According to the Daily Star, Saints Chairman Gisheng Gao is slashing his asking price to sell the club, but what are these facts based on.
Although nothing has been put in black & white, it is known that behind the scenes Gao has at times struggled to get money out of China into the UK, not through any fault of his own, but due to restrictions in his own country that are put into place from time to time when they fall out with the West, usually the USA.
Gao is not the only one who has suffered the Chinese company in control of Wolverhampton Wanderers have had similar problems and themselves were looking for outside investment earlier in the season.
Rumours that Gao is looking to sell his 80% share have been circulating for a while, although the truth is that all football clubs these days are open for offers, few are owned by anyone with a real connection to the team or area they are in, therefore despite what they might say to the contrary, it is all about when they feel that they have gone as far as they can with the club and when the right offer comes in.
The Daily Star is reporting that Gao has now said he is slashing £50 million off his asking price of supposedly £250 million as claimed by the Times a month or so ago, that for his 80% share of the club that he paid £210 million for.
The Daily Echo who are briefed more than most have also, like myself, always felt that Gao has not put the club up for sale per se, but as explained will always listed to offers, but not necessarily be interested in selling unless it makes business sense
Some Saints fans have criticised Gao for wanting to run the club as a business, personally I see no problem with this strategy, firstly it was always the way Markus Liebherr intended to run the club and secondly when you look at the trouble some clubs have got into after having an owner that allowed them to spend money that they didn't have.
Remember football club owners always put money into clubs as loans, we have been lucky in that the Liebherr family have at times wiped that loan off, any new owner might be unlikely to do the same.
Although Gao is not going to throw money at the club just to buy players, he has shown that he is willing to finance the club when needed, the recent three month wage deferral by the players and the announcement that no non playing staff would be furloughed could not have come about without his involvement and will cost him financially.
That is not the action of a man who is just in it for the money.
Gao's actual comments on his ownership of Saints have often been misquoted but if you search the internet they are easy to find
He rarely speaks about Saints in public but once shared his intentions with the Financial Times.
He said:
"I am not treating Southampton as a pig to be fattened and sold.
"I am treating it as a child. But my children must believe they cannot depend on the boss.
"I have said to Southampton: ‘I am now your father. But I am putting you on the right track: you need to feed yourself.’”
Not the words some Saints fans want to hear, they want him to say here is £100 million now spend it on players, but that is not good business that would be just ego driven, what Gao said to the Times are wise words.
Perhaps long term he will not be the man to run this club, but in the short term he has done no wrong to Southampton Football Club other than enrage a few people some of whom wont put their own hands in their pockets to put money through the turnstiles , but demand that he puts his hands in his.