Sheffield Wednesday may face a new crisis at the end of January if they are unable to complete the club’s sale by then.

Sheffield Wednesday, a troubled Championship team, faces a potential catastrophe at the end of January if they are unable to execute a club sale by the end of the month.

Wednesday have been in administration since the end of October, and while it was hoped that a sale of the club would be completed by the end of the year, it now appears that any sale will not be completed until at least January, despite the fact that a preferred bidder has been named in the form of former Sheffield United advisor James Bord.

The team remains at the bottom of the Championship table, with only one league win all season, but the biggest issue now is that an already depleted squad may have to be further gutted before the end of January if a sale is not accomplished by then.

Sheffield Wednesday may have to sell valued assets if a sale cannot be concluded before January.

On his Patreon page on Sunday morning, journalist Alan Nixon stated that Sheffield Wednesday may be forced to sell their most valued assets at the end of the January transfer window.

The report states that, “Once the window shuts at the end of next month there may be a shortfall of money before it opens again” , as well as “keeper Pierce Charles could have to be sold along with some other youngsters.”

He says that the club’s financial security, which was established with the departure of Dejphon Chansiri, will diminish with time. One anonymous fan donated the club a £1 million loan, which, together with other fundraising efforts, provided the club with enough operational capital to ensure that all players and staff were paid on schedule at the end of October, November, and December.

Nixon also adds that manager Henrik Pedersen may be expensive to replace, stating, “The Dane signed a three-year deal and insiders reveal his settlement is ‘big’ if he is sacked.”

Threadbare Sheffield Wednesday can’t afford to lose more players in the January transfer window.

Sheffield Wednesday fans may be concerned to learn that the club may lose more players at the end of January, given that they already have a small roster.

And Pierce Charles would be a significant loss for the team. The 20-year-old goalkeeper has been with the club since 2021, but has missed much of the season due to a shoulder ailment. It’s also possible that if potential purchasers become aware of the club’s financial situation by the end of next month, offers for him will be lower than Wednesday would like.

However, the club requires additional working capital to go to the end of the season. It was thought that this would be resolved by the end of January, but difficulties delayed the announcement of a preferred bidder until just before Christmas, so the race is now on to complete the transaction before the end of January.

According to Alan Nixon’s article, James Bord was believed to be one of the driving forces behind Sheffield United’s decision to offload Chris Wilder at the end of the 2024-25 season and replace him with Ruben Selles, a decision that had long-term implications for Wednesday’s rivals’ season. When seen from this perspective, the cost of getting rid of Henrik Pedersen may not appear to be that awful for them.

Sheffield Wednesday fans will thus be hoping that the administrators can finalize the sale of the club before the end of the January transfer window. They cannot afford to lose any more players, even though this season has already been branded a write-off, with relegation from the Championship being considered an unavoidable outcome before Christmas.