Read more: Owls inform stock exchange of takeover approach

Wednesday are being promised colossal funding of up to £250m as the club move to close a revolutionising deal in the Hillsborough ownership race.

Overseas backers leading the frontrunning bid are believed to be from Russia. They are ready to transform Wednesday's profile and prospects under the terms of a transaction that was nearing completion this week. Another group, believed to be London-based, are pursuing a rival enterprise.

Identities have yet to emerge but the Telegraph believes that one Russian billionaire - and possibly two - could be financing the first venture.

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Wednesday are confident that the clearing of their £26m debt will be only the starting point of an ambitious blueprint aimed at returning the club to the Premiership next season.

Sources close to Hillsborough are predicting a staggering cash injection. The talks are understood to have involved pledges to sink between £30m and £50m a season into the club for each of the next five years.

That is on top of a substantial initial outlay to buy shares, repay loans and, most crucially, to end Wednesday's reliance on a firefighting relationship with the Co-op bank.

The club has evidently seen proof that 100 million euros are in place to complete the deal. However, the names of financiers are believed to have been kept secret even from club officials because they want to remain in the background until the last minute.

In order to proceed, the proposed deal appears to have finally united Hillsborough's warring factions. And it is raising hope of investment beyond the wildest dreams of any long-suffering supporter - enough, in theory, to take Wednesday into Europe and beyond.

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After years of internal strife and under-achievement on the field, some fans are bound to be sceptical until the transaction is signed and sealed. It is one thing to promise and another to deliver, a fact of which Hillsborough officials are fully aware.

But there is a tangible belief within the club - which has secretly persisted for weeks and months - that the proposals are the real deal, offering Wednesday substantially more than a financial rescue, indeed a total revamp.

The prospect of the Owls joining football's nouveau riche and even rivalling the clout of Queens Park Rangers has been raised. The London outfit are backed by the fifth richest man in the world, Indian-born steel magnate Lakshi Mittal, who recently joined motor-racing billionaires Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore in buying the club.

Although Wednesday's prospective new owners might not have the clout of that trio - Mittal is said to be worth £25bn - even to be talked of in those terms is a sign that the club are about to net serious money.

Former chairman Dave Allen, whose resignation precipitated the takeover, has long maintained that Hillsborough needed backers of "mega-wealth" to take the club forward. He is sure to have been central to the talks as one of four major shareholders and also the biggest loanee to the club.

The deal favoured at this stage is being brokered by Geoff Sheard, a little-known Lancashire businessman, who is believed to have linked up with football agent Phil Morrison to gather the investment package. Sheard, a kit manufacturer, has had commercial links with Preston and Stoke.

Initially they will repay all directors' loans, including the £1.5m plus interest owed to Allen, who still holds a 10% stake in the club. Long-serving board member Geoff Hulley and former director Keith Addy also hold 10%, as do fan group Wednesdayite, who have revealed their talks with Sheard.

All parties are understood to be agreeable to selling their shares in principle and formal offers are considered imminent.

The short-term objective will be to secure Championship status with Wednesday now back in the bottom three following Preston's shock midweek win over Stoke. Although the window is closed on full transfers, the new board would pay premium rate wages for loans from the Premiership to stabilise the club for an all-out assault on promotion next season.

The Owls board were meeting as the Telegraph went to press. So far there has been no official comment from the club but confirmation of the takeover talks could be imminent.

Brian Laws' future as manager can only be considered precarious, simply because history shows investors' invariably move in a man of their choice sooner rather than later. But immediate changes can do more harm than good and the new regime are unlikely to risk upsetting a potential run to safety after a recent upturn under a boss who commands much support from players and fans.

Laws selflessly feels the club's best interests are paramount. Wednesday will feel they cannot afford to miss out on a stampede to buy into football by wealthy individuals of many nationalities, who have the resources to pursue an involvement almost as a recreational hobby-horse.

Other Championship outfits like Wolves, Ipswich and Coventry have found major backers in recent times. Wednesday have cause to feel their potential outstrips just about every club outside the Premiership and even some of those in the top flight. A large stadium, big and loyal support and a rich tradition are all factors in the Owls' favour.


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