Many months ago this site broke news of a potential Saints takeover from America, according to a report in the national media talks are still ongoing, ironically though, Saints great start to the season has stalled the sale going through.

According to Saturday's Daily Mail the man behind the proposed takeover Joseph DaGrossa has made it clear to Saints owner Gao Jisheng that he will not be increasing his offer for the club after the recent impressive results.

The Mail say Gao remains eager to sell, but is looking to get the best price possible.

Now is perhaps not the best time for haggling given the unstable state of football and Saints like many clubs losing millions on a monthly basis, not to mention the recent Bigger Picture fiasco as proposed by the owners of Liverpool & Manchester United.

But it is understandable that Gao looks for the best price possible when selling the club, he is not a local man with ties to the club, he bought it with good intentions only to find those intentions thwarted by the political situation between China and the West and it is also unclear whether that is affecting the talks, whilst Trump is still in office relations between the USA & China remain cool, they have thawed slightly in the last month but are some way from being friendly.

There are many who run down Gao as an owner who has not put money into the club, when he arrived he had big plans for the club, but as Saints CEO Martin Semmens recently stated in a fans forum, almost as soon as he arrived in a wave of Chinese sports club owners around the world encouraged by their government, suddenly relationships between China & the West deteriorated and Gao found himself unable to put money into the club.

But he has put a lot of effort into putting people into the club to run it and another irony is that Gao's inability to use his money to fund the club over the past two years has led to the club being forced to run as a business without handouts from the owner, this meant that we went into this awful pandemic lockdown in a lot better shape to cope than most other clubs.

It is easy for some to slag off Gao for not putting in his money, but that is not his fault, perhaps he has not turned out to be the owner that we all hoped for, but he has not been a bad owner either, the club is in a stable position, or as stable as it could be in the current situation.

It has also seen us go back to basics, we worked with what we had and that has proven key to our success, although we still have some overpaid players on our books & out on loan, that burden is slowly but surely reducing.

We have achieved this seasons success not through spending money , but by returning to the core values of the club going back to the 1950's in the days of Ted Bates, that is about developing our own youngsters and finding up and coming talent at a good price and also developing them.

If and when Gao sells Southampton Football Club he will leave it in a far better condition as a club than it was when he arrived, for that he deserves thanks not to be vilified.

As it stands we can survive as we are, we have showed with good management and a belief in what we do we can prosper as a club, there is part of me that feels that selling to some American billionaire is not the answer for us, it didn't work for Manchester United very well dit it !

Photo: Action Images

WestSussexSaint added 10:39 - Nov 29 I have no issue with Gao wanting to sell up or trying to get the best price he can. I also think that any prospective buyer is right to make a financial offer based on what they can afford and on the long term financial position of the club. It was only a year ago that the club were favourites for relegation so while the current form is great it should not materially influence what someone believes the club is worth. What this current form will do is draw a more attention to the Saints and so provide a greater pool of prospective buyers. So if the money is too much for DaGrossa there maybe others that are willing to meet Gaos valuation.

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WestSussexSaint added 10:41 - Nov 29 P.s. I also wonder if Kats 20% is a potential sticking problem for some buyers who want sole control of the club. Presumably Kat has no intention of selling her share as part of any deal with Gao.
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underweststand added 11:07 - Nov 29 I agree with " West Sussex " above, and obviously Mr. Gao had his own financial /political reasons for wanting to sell. I believe that this story has been around since earlier in the year since when Saints' form has been as a good as any in the Prem. and suddenly we are a different proposition from the side who were fighting against relegation - and managing to survive - to become a side who (on early season showing) are capable of challenging for a Euro place. This may drag on for a while - until Mr. Gao gives in, or Da Grossa refuses to improve his offer. Either way, I don't see Kat giving up her share so easily..even for big bucks. For my part, I'm not bothered, but would sooner see the Ings / Bertrand contract deals finalised one way or another ASAP.

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FrankSaint added 11:20 - Nov 29 French friends in Bordeaux where this American had a stake in the city's football club, rate him as an owner with a good philosophy. If this deal does materialise it would be good to get some feedback from the Bordeaux fans online.
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redwight added 11:52 - Nov 29 Not sure that Kat's 20% will be a problem. His 80% would allow him to do anything he pleases.
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saintmark1976 added 13:00 - Nov 29 I can’t imagine our current form has anything to do with the situation Nick. People who make big business decisions are not influenced by such transient matters. After all,two successive defeats would see us back in mid table.
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AmericanSaint added 16:26 - Nov 29 NIck - I have to disagree with you on the point that Gao couldn't put money into the club. He states infers that it was his government, but other Chinese billionaires are moving money through Hong Kong and Malaysia. I think his money was all tied up in when he took over and he had little to play with. Chinese economics is not a free-market economy and his plan to develop his home country market was always a gamble. That said he has not been horrible either. At this moment, I would take the American billionaire over Goa. What I dont understand is that with the sale of the club, Gao can have his money paid anywhere and out of the reach of his government. It is his right to hold out, but as "saintmark" stated, we can be mid-table very easily. Gao should remember that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Anyways can't wait to read your match report on the MU game as I am fuming right now.

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