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What a Southampton ownership takeover would look like: The Optimist vs. The Pessimist

By Blake Hampton

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MARCH 15: Southampton Chairman Ralph Krueger gives the thumbs up as Southampton owner and director Katharina Liebherr looks on during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Norwich City at St Mary's Stadium on March 15, 2014 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MARCH 15: Southampton Chairman Ralph Krueger gives the thumbs up as Southampton owner and director Katharina Liebherr looks on during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Norwich City at St Mary's Stadium on March 15, 2014 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images) /
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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 22: Jamie Vardy (C) of Leicester City competes for the ball against Cedric Soares (R) and Virgil van Dijk (L) of Southampton compete for the ball during the Premier League match between Southampton and Leicester City at St Mary’s Stadium on January 22, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 22: Jamie Vardy (C) of Leicester City competes for the ball against Cedric Soares (R) and Virgil van Dijk (L) of Southampton compete for the ball during the Premier League match between Southampton and Leicester City at St Mary’s Stadium on January 22, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) /

The Optimist

The best-case scenario is primarily from the investment side. These companies that are looking to buy into the Southampton ownership see something within the organization. This organization will be their child and thus will treat it as so. Companies realize that if you want to reap the benefits of an investment, you are going to have to put money into the organization.

Think of flipping houses. When you are on the market, you want to buy one that you can see a lot of potential earnings out of. You aren’t just going to buy a house, and then put it back onto the market, are you? You are going to put an excessive amount of time, effort, and money into your investment. This can be done while also keeping all upper-level management around the organization.

Imagine keeping all of our scouts, all of our management, all of our players while getting an influx of money similar to the top organizations. Imagine a world where we don’t sell our players year after year. This could be the exact result of us selling our organization. This company could pump some serious money into the Southampton organization while keeping everything else the same.

We obviously owe everything to the Liebherr family. One viewpoint is that current owner Katharina does not show the same interest as previous owner and father, Markus Liebherr. It could be the best thing for the Southampton club to sell the organization to a company like Lander Sports Development.

It would allow Katharina to put the love and care she has into the organization while not putting her own personal funding. She may not be entirely out of the organization depending on what the negotiations look like. We could be seeing the beginning of a juggernaut with this potential change-of-ownership.