Possibility of takeovers at two of Peterborough United's League One rivals

Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson shakes hands with Charlton Athletic manager. Photo: Joe Dent.

Both Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic are in the midst of takeover talks.

If both go through, that could see the level of competition in League One raised.

Both sides suffered disappointing campaigns last time out with Wigan finishing bottom on the Championship- with a three-point deduction for late paying of wages- and Charlton tenth in League One, well outside of the play-off picture.

A new era looks set to be afoot at The Valley, however, given that Charlie Methven has agreed a takeover of the side through his firm SE7 Partners.

Methven was the Sunderland Executive Director between 2018 and 2019 and found notoriety from his appearances on Netflix’s fly-on-the-wall documentary Sunderland Till I Die.

Previous owner Thomas Sandgaard only took over the club in September 2020.

Methven and his fellow SE7 director Edward Warrick are set to become the club’s fourth owner in less than four years.

The takeover is now subject to EFL ratification.

The EFL have also requested further information from Sarbjot Johal for his potential takeover of Wigan.

The 21-year-old entrepreneur has spent most of the last six months trying to buy Morecambe but seems to have switched course.

He still needs to provide proof of funds though to takeover the club from Phoenix 2021 Limited. He would also need to pass the Owners and Directors Test, something he has still not done from his time trying to acquire Morecambe.

In the meantime, the current ownership are still responsible for the running of the club and they have already racked the club up an eight-point deduction for the coming season for failure to pay wages on time.

Wigan Today understands that senior players in the squad still have not been paid despite their wages being due last Friday.