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Sheffield Wednesday will “imminently” be served with a winding-up petition over money owed to HMRC.

After an investigation conducted by BBC Radio Sheffield alongside the Sheffield Star, it is understood the Championship club owes £1m.

A winding-up petition would increase the pressure on the club’s owner Dejphon Chansiri to sell.

They are already under five separate EFL embargoes after failing to pay wages on time in five of the past seven months.

Wednesday are second bottom of the Championship with six points from nine games after a torrid period off the field, which has left them with a threadbare squad.

The severity of the situation became apparent when May’s wages were not paid on time, in the wake of the same thing happening in March.

With uncertainty ongoing and the club placed under various registration embargoes, highly-rated manager Danny Rohl departed in July and his assistant Henrik Pedersen took charge 10 days before the season started.

The team did not play a single pre-season friendly in front of fans and players pulled out of a training match against Burnley after July’s wages were not paid.

Fans have organised protests before and during games so far this season and they boycotted the home EFL Cup ties with Leeds and Grimsby, while the supporters’ trust also encouraged fans not to buy drinks or snacks in the stadium.

Analysis – Rob Staton, BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

For the last week we’ve been working on this story alongside the Sheffield Star. It isn’t a surprise and has been on the cards.

So what does it mean? A winding-up petition is a formal court application, filed by a creditor, to force an insolvent company into compulsory liquidation. With HMRC owed £1m they are believed to be ready to take that step.

It could mean administration for the club, although that is not guaranteed, but it also means a distinct possibility that Chansiri’s time at Sheffield Wednesday is close to coming to an end.

What the future holds is unclear and no fan will rejoice at the words “liquidation” being brought up. But it could mean the opportunity for a fresh start.

The number of ‘traditional’ wide players starting in the Premier League is significantly down this season, with the majority of teams deploying inverted wingers and a few starting with wing-backs.

Traditional in this sense means a predominantly left-footed player lining up on the left wing or a right-footed player on the right, while an inverted winger would be a left-footed player on the right. Mohamed Salah at Liverpool or Bukayo Saka at Arsenal are prime examples.

Some of that decrease can be attributed to circumstance rather than a complete tactical shift, with new teams and managers entering the division, while the likes of Bournemouth and Everton have tended to buck that trend this season.

The Toffees have started the primarily right-footed Iliman Ndiaye on the right on five occasions in order to accommodate Jack Grealish on the left. The Senegalese was usually deployed on the left flank last term.

Andoni Iraola has named the left-footed David Brooks on the left and the right-footed Antoine Semenyo on the right on three occasions this term at Bournemouth, although they do tend to switch flanks during matches.

Legendary Manchester United star Ryan Giggs has called for the return of orthodox wing play and believes that modern day football has become ‘strangled’.

“I hope it comes back, left footer on the left, right footer on the right,” said the 51-year old.

“The argument against that is people like [Gareth] Bale, [Arjen] Robben, [Mohamed] Salah, these amazing players, who are playing on the other side and then it is ‘how do you play?’, continued Giggs, who was speaking on a ‘Player Development the Manchester United way’ panel at the Training Ground Guru conference at Old Trafford.

“We used to play with two centre-forwards or a number 10 and try to beat the full-back on the outside and get a cross in. Now it is coming inside and linking.

“But I hope it comes back. I would like to see two wide men beat players on the outside and get crosses in.”

Giggs has not had a management role since standing down as Wales boss in 2022 after domestic abuse charges were levelled against him. He denied the allegations and all charges were dropped after his former partner refused to give evidence at a retrial in 2023. He stood down as director of football at League Two Salford City, the club he used to part own, earlier this year.

“I am a bit biased,” said Giggs. “I was a winger who liked to make things happen and excite the fans.

“Sir Alex [Ferguson] used to say ‘give the guy who works in the factory something to smile about’.

“I liked to pass it forward, to run and try a difficult ball with the outside of my foot knowing the manager wasn’t necessarily going to have a go at me.”

While the current generation are highly skilled and technical, the criticism is that their individuality has been taken away by micro-management, in an era when every positional change is detailed and coaches are a constant presence on the sidelines telling players where to go.

Grealish’s experience is often cited as an example – a player who arrived at Manchester City from Aston Villa in 2021 as a British record signing, capable of the kind of magic Giggs possessed, but then had his ‘off-the-cuff’ style taken away by Pep Guardiola’s demand for possession.

“You don’t like to go back to your time, but it does look a bit strangled with certain quality players,” added Giggs.

“There are some, like Josh King at Fulham, and Martin Odegaard, who get me excited as well, so it is not everyone but yes, from when I first started, I think it is a bit more robotic, with the patterns of play and more defensive minded teams.”