SAINTS AND GRINNERS
Boss Hasenhuttl told job is safe and sky’s the limit after £250m takeover
BY
SOUTHAMPTON’S new owners want to create a Red Bullstyle multi-club dynasty after completing a deal worth up to £250million to buy the south coast club.
A consortium headed by Serbian media tycoon Dragan Solak (above) and ex-Brentford transfer guru Rasmus Ankersen has bought an 80 percent stake from cash-strapped Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng. The pair hope Saints will become the first of a number of clubs under their ownership around the world.
Solak, who owns THREE private jets, made his fortune as founder of the United Group, a pay-TV company that owns the rights to show the Premier League in Balkan countries.
Dane Ankersen (above) was Brentford’s co-director of football before stepping down last month to lead his own company Sport Republic. The 38-year-old played a key role in Brentford’s promotion to the Premier League, modelling their recruitment on the so-called ‘Moneyball’ system used widely in American sports.
Ankersen’s fellow countryman Henrik Kraft has also joined the Saints board as part of the takeover. Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been assured his job is safe, with chief executive Martin Semmens retaining his role.
Semmens said: “We welcome a new beginning with a new ownership group. We have found partners with ambition for the future, but with a clear understanding of what Southampton stands for and the direction we must go in now. “Sport Republic is being built to provide a network of people, clubs, and technology that allows the clubs within it to grow and gain the advantages you need to be successful. As a club, we have never wanted to buy success, but to earn it. Sport Republic gives us the power to improve our operations at every level.”
Solak, 57, added: “Southampton have so many of the qualities we have been looking for in a major sports organisation. It has a great management team, excellent talent development, talented teams playing attractive football and a dedicated fan base. Southampton will be a cornerstone of the organisation we plan to build.”
Semmens has led the extensive search for a new owner for more than a year after Gao revealed he was in financial trouble.
Katharina Liebherr, whose dad Markus rescued Saints from going bust in 2009, will still own a 20 percent stake and had the final say on the takeover bid.
Despite their new-found wealth, Saints, 14th in the Premier League with only two wins at St Mary’s from nine matches, are not expected to spend big in this transfer this month. But talks with Chelsea over a summer move to make Albanian striker Armando Broja’s loan permanent are now expected to ramp up.
The takeover will also help Saints retain the services of club captain and England midfielder James Ward-Prowse, who has attracted interest from Aston Villa and Tottenham. The 27-year-old has been at Saints since boyhood.
A club source said: “This is great news for everybody associated with the club.
“Financially we have been surviving from the bottom of the barrel for some time now and this will help secure our future in the Premier League.
“Due to financial fair play restrictions, it is unrealistic to expect us to start challenging the top four, but we should now be able to compete in the top half of the Premier League table.”