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American Takeover Bid For Saints

Saints have reportedly entered into a period of exclusive negotiations with an American based group for the sale of Gao Jisheng's share in the club.

The Mail online is reporting that Former Bordeaux owner Joseph DaGrosa is looking to buy Southampton, the American has entered into a period of exclusive negotiations with the Saints.

He had previously been interested in buying Newcastle United in 2019 and it is said that should the takeover prove successful, Saints would likely raid the transfer market.

Sportsmail reports that they understand the American has entered into a period of exclusive negotiations with Southampton owner Gao Jisheng, who put the club up for sale earlier this year due to the increasing difficulty of taking money out of China.

DaGrosa spoke to Newcastle owner Mike Ashley about a takeover last year after his private equity company General American Capital Partners (GACP) sold their stake in Ligue 1 Bordeaux, but the talks did not lead to a formal offer.

The report continues

DaGrosa is convinced that Southampton and several other clubs are undervalued due to the market overcorrecting amid the pandemic, a theory that GACP also apply to players.

If the takeover is successful, Southampton would see an influx of new signings.

DaGrosa believes that there are bargains to be had because few clubs are recruiting due to concerns over falling income in the absence of gate receipts.

Southampton suffered another setback this summer when a dispute with shirt sponsors LD Sports, a Chinese entertainment and marketing company, led them to cancel the contract.

The club are taking legal action against LD Sports, who have been replaced by another sponsor, betting company Sportsbet.io.

Southampton declined to comment.

This is in line with information we became aware of around 6 weeks ago that an American bid was in the offing, although DaGrossa's name was not mentioned,

The native New Yorker is 56 and has wanted to get into Premier League football for some time, hence the Newcastle United bid, it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the next few weeks and if DaGrosa wishes to invest in this transfer window as the Mail suggests then that could indicate that the takeover is advanced and the deal could be done before the deadline in 3 weeks time.

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