A story seems to have emerged in Scotland suggesting that Saints are in financial trouble, but lets look at the facts.
The main carriers of the story seem to be in Scotland where Celtic are desperately trying to prise away Fraser Forster, but seem unwilling or unable to pay either the going rate on his transfer fee or anywhere near his current salary.
The source is a journalist called Duncan Castles who if you google him has often been accused of being Jose Mourinho and his agent Jose Mendes mouthpiece, so perhaps here we see why this is being put out.
The bullet points of a podcast he has spoken on have then been rehashed and used to stir up trouble for Saints, perhaps Castles has made these claims due to his connections with Mourinho and to try to push on Spurs interest in Pierre Emile Hojbjerg at a cut price, but the Scottish media are using it in context with Celtic's attempts to get both Forster and Moi Elyounoussi to the club.
The media reports are claiming:
Gao is no longer willing to support the club financially
Southampton have just taken out a loan to keep the club going
Gao is open to bidders for the club
American Bid for the club has dried up
Loan players will not have contracts extended
Looking to sell some of their most valuable players
Desperately need to reduce the wage bill
Club desperately trying to raise money through season ticket sales.
In essence nothing he has been said hasn't been said before, Castles and indeed others have just spun it in a different way, so lets take a look at some of the claims.
1. Gao cannot support the club any longer - as we know he has been running it as a business for over two years now rather than pump in money to pay bills, in essence we don't need his money to run day to day.
Of course the club are in the same boat as any other club, they have to still pay the bills at a time then there is no income coming in, clubs use income facilities from banks and other providers secured against future income all the time.
The club have said earlier in the season that although they have not actively looked for buyers that from time to time they receive enquiries from parties interested in buying a football club, but that none of these offers has seen anything other than initial interest.
The interest from America has dried up, was it ever there ?
2. Loan players will be got rid of asap - We only have two and one of them has just been signed up to an extension so that perhaps indicates that the story is trying to stir things up by throwing mud at the wall, either way an extra month on either's loan period isn't going to matter much.
3. Saints have been trying to get rid of a number of players for some time, the issue has always been about the players not going permanently because of the salary they are on and unwilling to take the massive drop needed for a permanent deal., If we could have pushed them forward then we would have done, truth is unless we virtually give them away we will struggle to sell them until the last year of their contract.
4. Season tickets launched early - Of course the club want to get season ticket money in, it is an important source of income in the summer, but they have actually been launched late not early and the deadline date is September, again trying to make something out of nothing.
5. We dont have any cash - This is an issue with every club in the present situation, look at Spurs massive club yet have no money for transfers
Overall the issues highlighted mainly are emanating from Duncan Castles who has it seems has just rehashed old news and tried to turn it into a new story.
Saints will have financial issues at present, but they are no different from any other football club, indeed due to our business structure where Gao does not put money in, we are probably in a better position than many, clubs like Liverpool, Man Utd and Spurs rely heavily on their support around the world to generate income through merchandising as well as ticket sales, we are not so reliant on this.
What it does highlight though is that football does have issues due to the corona virus and why every club needs the help of its fans to get it through and that means season ticket sales in Saints case.
I see too many "I'm waiting till august " posts on social media, that has to change, some Saints supporters have to have a different mindset, people should want to pay as early as possible to help the club, Saints like all clubs have no income at present and have lost that income if the games had been played in front of a crowd.
If people are going to renew then doing so early will help the club, at current interest rates £600 will generate about 4p a month interest, but 20,000 renewals will put £10-12 million in the club bank and help it through a difficult time, made even worse by the need to repay some of the money they have received from the TV companies.
Only those in charge of the club know the true position and they are hardly likely to be telling it to the likes of Duncan Castles in an exclusive interview.
But football had to return because of money, some will not like that and say how can football be played whilst people are still dying, but the harsh truth is that life has to go on and business's have to try and keep going and stay afloat whether they are football clubs, shops, pubs or restaurants and it is the public that have the money to patronise them and help them survive.
I'm not going to moralise about what football has become in the past 28 years since the Premier League started, neither can I say what is the truth and what sin't I can only try and give an overview, but at least one without an agenda other than to hopefully see the football club survive a tough period.
And it is a tough period, perhaps Saints are not in the financial trouble claimed, but they and all clubs are in a position they have not budgeted for and will have to cut their cloth accordingly.