Sources close to the Lancashire businessman have told the Telegraph that the financiers of the bid want to stay in the background even after the transaction is completed - and for as long as possible afterwards.

A desire for anonymity is a highly unusual trait in the new breed of football club owners, most of whom revel in the limelight.

But Sheard, who is said to have had his first talks with manager Brian Laws, is desperate to prove the authenticity of the approach by completing the deal so that he can fund immediate player recruitment.

The Owls' leap of faith came closer last week with Wednesdayite members voting overwhelmingly to follow former chairman Dave Allen, director Geoff Hulley and ex-board member Keith Addy in agreeing to sell their shares.

Sheard, fronting a transaction that will cost over £7m including full loan repayments, has acquired a letter from the club guaranteeing that he will be co-opted on to the board once the legalities are completed.

Discussions with Wednesday's bank, the Co-op, on a possible reduction of the club's debt - which will drop to £23m with the settling of loans - are said to have started yesterday.

The Sheard camp also confirms today that the money for the deal has now been transferred from a Swiss account to a UK bank.

It is further suggested that the club's board and lawyers have been informed of the source of the investment. Director Bob Grierson has been promised a phone call from the main investor. However, Sheard - who continues to parry questions about who is backing the bid - is working to a brief that identities will not be revealed.

There are no plans to go public with that information, leaving a riddle to be unravelled. Sheard will feel that, having reached agreement to purchase up to 40% of the club without disclosing identities, there is no pressure for that scenario to change.

However, according to sources close to the club itself, proof of funding is still awaited. Whether Wednesday's lawyers recommend full disclosure of who is behind the bid remains to be seen.

Sheard's prediction last week - not for the first time in the anguished six-month affair - that the club would change hands "in days" is a promise to which he will be held in some quarters now that the ball is in his court. Doubts are bound to resurface if it does not happen by next weekend.

But there is no denying that, even at this stage, the machinery involved is complex. For all the uncertainty, Sheard himself appears totally focused on taking charge.

He watched last week's opening day win over Burnley from the directors box and is then said to have taken a seat on the kop to get a fans' eye view during the shock Carling Cup exit to Rotherham.



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