"You can't fault the guy" - Southampton FC, Dragan Solak claim issued as potential takeover mooted | OneFootball

Mixed reports have came out recently that Southampton owner Dragan Solak may want to sell the club following relegation to the Championship

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

After their recent relegation back to the Championship after only one year in the Premier League, reports have emerged that Southampton owner Dragan Solak wants to sell the club.

The Saints were unable to stay in the Premier League following their playoff-winning season in 2023/24, with all three promoted clubs relegated at the first time of asking.

It continues a trend of teams such as Southampton seemingly being too good for the Championship, but not quite able to compete in the top flight.

This poses an issue for owners, because the financial gap between the Premier League and the second tier is huge, meaning that clubs often find themselves having to sell lots of players to balance the books after relegation, even with parachute payments coming into the equation.

Southampton fan pundit reacts to Dragan Solak sale claims

Rumours emerged earlier in the week that Solak had put the club up for sale, as mentioned by ex-Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan on talkSPORT (as per the Daily Echo), with a £125 million valuation mooted around that time.

Football League World's Southampton's fan pundit, Martin Sanders, believes that there could be an element of truth into Solak wanting to cash in on the Saints, pointing towards the fact that it may be harder to balance the books this summer than it was two years ago.

"There's no smoke without fire, he has put it out there for a reason," Sanders told FLW.

"It has come from talkSPORT. Jim White namedrops Dragan Solak a lot on that station and he interviews him a lot and he's got a relationship with him, so that story has come via there.

"They will have to raise £100 million in player sales this year to balance the books.

"The problem is that the squad is not as strong as it was last time around. So you sell £100 million worth of players, and we are going to be so much weaker than we were last time in the Championship.

"The problem is, if we don't get promoted back, is he going to be willing to chuck another £100 million in?

"I'm not convinced deep down that he does, but it remains to be seen. But you can't fault the guy for his commitment so far."

Dragan Solak's Southampton investments haven't led to success - but he doesn't need to sell the club

If Saints fail to go up at the first time of asking next season, they would have to massively cut their budgets in order to stay as sustainable as possible, with the financial gaps between the two leagues being absolutely huge.

Most of the time, for a club to get promoted, their owner has to spend tens of millions of pounds from their own pocket to fund the club.

With those sums of money involved, if an owner has lost interest, then they are not going to spend money to get promoted, and instead may simply spend less and settle for a place in the Championship.

Southampton do have assets they could sell this summer, such as Tyler Dibling and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, among a handful of others, but you wouldn't exactly say that throughout the squad they are brimming with potential Premier League talent.

Two years ago, They raised over £150 million in fees to help facilitate the losses and put some money towards replacement signings - that doesn't look as likely to happen this summer under Solak, but there's no real reason as to why he should want to sell the club at this stage, irrespective of relegation.