The administrators running Sheffield Wednesday have received an extraordinary enquiry from the owners of Sheffield United, asking about a possible deal to merge the two rival clubs.
Wednesday is currently up for sale, with an asking price believed to be in excess of £30m, after previous owner Dejphon Chansiri put the club into administration at the end of last month, incurring an automatic 12-point deduction in the Championship.
SportNews News has been told an email was sent to the administrators which claimed to come from COH Sports, the American owners of United, asking about a possible asking price for Wednesday and for more detailed information about the state of the finances and assets at Hillsborough.
It is possible the enquiry was a spoof, but there has so far been no comment from COH Sports when they were contacted by SportNews News for clarification.
The group is led by businessmen Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, who both joined the Blades' board as co-chairmen. Rosen is the founder and chairman of Resilience Capital Partners, while Eltoukhy chairs biotech company Guardant Health.
The thought of the two Sheffield clubs joining forces will anger supporters on both sides of the city, which has seen one of the most bitter rivalries in football dating back more than 130 years.
It is understood the enquiry was made earlier this month, and that Begbies Traynor, the administrators in charge of Wednesday, are currently progressing the process of a possible sale with five other prospective buyers - none of whom are COH Sports.
Furthermore, it has been made clear to SportNews News that neither the EFL nor the new Football Regulator would allow such a merger to happen.
COH Sports have been in charge at Bramall Lane since December last year, when they took control of 100 per cent of both the men's and women's teams. They had big ambitions, and talked of pushing Sheffield United to the Premier League.
However, the Blades were three points clear at the top of the Championship when the new consortium took over - they are now third bottom, and in the relegation places.
Sheffield United beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 in the Steel City Derby, live on SportNews, on Sunday.
While COH Sports has provided a response to SportNews News over the enquiry, a statement from Rosen and Eltoukhy - insisting they remain "committed to the badge" - was published on United's official website on Wednesday.
It read: "Our 3-0 victory on Sunday in the local derby with Wednesday was definitely the boost we all needed after a tougher-than-expected start to the season...
"Like you, we are obviously disappointed with our start to the season. Even more so when this season is viewed in the context of how close we were to securing promotion back to the Premier League last May.
"As the owners and custodians of the club we remain hugely confident that with your support and some targeted additions to the squad that we will soon climb up the table back to where we belong.
"But be under no illusion: bringing regular Premier League football to Sheffield United is why we are here. We are working as hard as we can to further modernise the club so that it is in the strongest position to compete."
