CHRIS TURNER is on the verge of sealing his return to football by pushing through a takeover deal at Sheffield Wednesday.

The former Hartlepool United boss was back in the North-East yesterday when he took part in Ritchie Humphreys’ testimonial golf day at Wynyard Golf Club, where he outlined his vision for the future at Hillsborough.

His mood was one of anticipation and expectation as his ‘group’ look to conclude a deal that would allow the Owls to fight a second winding up order at the High Court on November 17.

That is a far cry from the final few weeks of his tenure at Victoria Park when he felt he was unable to convince chairman Ken Hodcroft to invest further in his League One squad.

Now Turner is fronting a £15m takeover deal from a Middle East company at Wednesday, which is believed to be the same group that had tried to strike a deal with Hartlepool earlier this year.

Pools officials have not confirmed such negotiations, but Turner chooses not to look back on his final days in charge and prefers to concentrate on helping to make sure that Sheffield Wednesday have new owners.

“I have enjoyed my rest from football,” said Turner, who quit his role as director of sport on August 19. “I am working for a group who are looking to take over at Sheffield Wednesday, so busy with that. I have been to see a number of games and I have been kept busy.

“I’m hoping something will happen this week so that we can progress once the deal has been completed. We are just waiting for certain things to happen.

“I am the frontman for them. I talk daily with the Sheffield Wednesday chairman, Howard Wilkinson. It’s just waiting for it to happen.

“It is a very exciting time, I am really looking forward to it. It’s one of the biggest jobs because this is not about turning a team around, we have to turn a club around. They have a very good manager in Alan Irvine, he seems to be doing that job well. Off the field, the PR work, commercial work, sponsorship, youth side, the focus needs to be on that. I will be like a general manager.

Working with the club and the investment company.”

Since Turner departed, Mick Wadsworth has operated promisingly in his role as first team coach, despite Saturday’s defeat at Leyton Orient.

And Turner feels that Wadsworth has a pool of players that has the potential to push for a top six place, provided there are a couple more additions on the playing side.

“The reason I left Hartlepool were personal. I just felt for me personally it was time to move on,” he said. “The future is no different to when I was there. I felt that I wanted to invest in new players, like managers always do, and I think the squad of players at Hartlepool have a good solid base.

“Mick Wadsworth will say the same. If he can invest in two or three players of quality it would make a huge difference, just like Roy O’ Donovan did last season. Our form with Roy in the team in the last 12 matches last season was as good as anyone else in the league.”