SAINTS UP FOR SALE AT £250M

SOUTHAMPTON have been put up for sale by owner Gao Jisheng, with an asking price of £250million.

Chinese businessman Gao, who took over at St Mary’s just three years ago, wants to offload his full 80 per cent stake in the club.

And he has contacted brokers in the City asking them to find a buyer.

Gao (above) paid £210 million for his stake in 2017, but former owner Katharina Liebherr, who still has the remaining 20 per cent, is understood not to be selling up.

Since Gao’s takeover, Saints have been repeatedly threatened by relegation from the top flight, finishing 17th in 2018, and 16th last season.

Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Newcastle left them seven points clear of the relegation zone, but probably needing just one more win from their remaining nine games to escape the drop.

The club declared a £28.6m profit last March, but those figures were boosted by Virgil van Dijk’s £75m sale to Liverpool.

Results this year are not expected to be anywhere near as good, though the club only spent £35m on transfers last summer.

Under Gao’s short reign, Ralph Hasenhuttl (below) is the third manager to have held the post, after

Mauricio Pellegrino and Mark Hughes.

Gao’s Lander Sports Development company reported a loss in 2018, leading the 67-year-old to sell a large chunk of his stake in the business to the Chinese government.

Yet the real estate tycoon insisted last year there were “no problems” with his financial situation.

Saints, who saw midfielder Moussa Djenepo sent off on Saturday, have lost four of their last five games in the league, and face a crucial game at fellow strugglers Norwich on Saturday.