Former Sheffield Wednesday owner Milan Mandaric is eyeing a return to football at the age of 86.
Mandaric spent over four years in control of the Owls, who were promoted from League One during his time at the club.
He sold up in 2015, passing the baton to the club’s current owner Dejphon Chansiri. Now 86, Mandaric is readying to depart his role as vice-president of Serbian SuperLiga side FK Vojvodina as he seeks a new opportunity.
Speaking to The News, he said: “I don’t want to retire, I will retire one day when I’m gone. I still have the passion to help – and have a headache and stress.
“I do enjoy that sometimes to a point. Sometimes it gets hard and I say ‘what the hell am I doing?’. I still take projects without thinking how many I already have to finish.”
Prior to owning Wednesday, Mandaric was involved with Leicester City and Portsmouth. He has a penchant for taking on struggling clubs and is looking for a similar type of challenge.
He said: “My problem is I always like a club where there is room for improvement and I can make a difference.
“Leicester were down in League One when I took it – and that’s how I build a company in Silicon Valley. I was buying companies similar to mine, but not in good shape, almost in bankruptcy. That’s how I grew my company into one of the largest in that business.
“I have no interest just to be there, not making any difference, I have no interest for that. I want to see improvement all the time – and I’ll eventually get back into owning another football club.
“I cannot resist it because I still have energy. Enthusiasm is the key thing, enthusiasm feeds the energy – and I am enthusiastic about football. So I’ll probably have one more time.”
Mandaric is now actively looking and has insisted he has fielded calls from various countries regarding potential opportunities. However, he has insisted he is not looking to return to English football.
He said: “I’m healthy, I have no problems at all. Maybe I get it from my parents, it’s in the genes. You never know, one day something can happen suddenly, but right now I am okay.
‘We will see where, people have called me from Switzerland, France, Serbia, Croatia, everywhere. I am just looking.”
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