Southampton: Owner Gao Jisheng speaks about his strategy for Saints

Southampton owner Gao Jisheng has broken his silence and outlined the way that he wants the club to run under his guidance.

The Chinese businessman bought a controlling 80% stake at St Mary’s back in August 2017 but Saints fans had not heard anything about his vision for the club until this point.

Gao reportedly paid £210m to take his share of the South Coast outfit from Katharina Liebherr and it appears as though his investment will come in a sustainable and controlled manner.

Speaking to the Financial Times, he said:

"“I am not treating Southampton as a pig to be fattened and sold. I am treating it as a child. But my children must believe that they cannot depend on the boss. I have said to Southampton: ‘I am now your father. But I am putting you on the right track. You need to feed yourself.'”"

Whilst some fans may call for money to be pumped into the club for new signings, the approach that Gao speaks about seems to be a sensible one.

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Any cash that is injected in to help Saints would become a liability against its business. Therefore, huge amounts could see sums of debt produced that could not be paid back and ensure a sustainable future.

Two successive finishes of 17th and 16th in the Premier League have seen Saints’ income levels from top-flight payments drop to around £104m for the 2017/18 season.

This is a slight issue considering that the club was still spending £147m on its operating costs two campaigns ago, and that the profit (before interest and tax) of £33.7m was mainly due to player sales.

Whilst Saints remain in a decent financial position, they are still operating on a budget that is significantly smaller than some of their Premier League rivals and they must take extra care with less expendable income.

After qualification for the Europa League in 2016/17, they took the decision to reward players with improved contracts and committed £19.4m in tying key men down to the club.

This move ultimately didn’t pay off in the long-term and, although the size of the transfer budget available to Ralph Hasenhuttl this summer is unknown, their spending may need some tight negotiating because of this.