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Southampton: Jisheng Gao to build football club in the ‘Saints way’

By Christian Bird

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23: Fans, players and officals take part in a minutes silence in memory of Bill Green a ex Southampton scout who passed away this week prior to the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St Mary's Stadium on August 23, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23: Fans, players and officals take part in a minutes silence in memory of Bill Green a ex Southampton scout who passed away this week prior to the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St Mary's Stadium on August 23, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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Former Saints full-owner Katharina Liebherr believes her new majority partner Jisheng Gao can honour the clubs values, but what else does the billionaire’s investment entail?

Southampton has featured in several stretched saga’s as of late, including long speculation over Virgil van Dijk’s future, and Chinese consortium owner Jisheng Gao coveting a full stake in Southampton Football Club. It wasn’t until August when a deal was finally agreed for the ownership, acquiring an 80% stake, while Van Dijk remained at Saints.

The Gao family contributed £210 million towards the takeover at St Marys, using assets that the family previously held in Hong Kong.

As a businessman, Jisheng Gao holds an immaculately clean record, following rigorous checks by the football club before letting go of its large shares in the club. However, it has been speculated in the past that Gao dealt in the corruption of Xu Maiyong. These were merely rumours so it is believed, following a leak from the Sun shaming Gao.

Apart from that, little else is known about the Chinese businessman, who is the owner of Lander Sports Developments. Jisheng Gao says he is ‘humbled and honoured to become a partner of Southampton Football Club’, while part owner Katharina Liebherr suggests the new ownership is the best option going forwards.

Nevertheless, a higher bank role in the club and more pressure from the top means that the manager and player’s will have no respite, expected to perform week in – week out to the very best of their ability.

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 16: Shane Long of Southampton signals to his team-mates during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Southampton at Selhurst Park on September 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 16: Shane Long of Southampton signals to his team-mates during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Southampton at Selhurst Park on September 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /

With a strong academy of home-grown talent, Jisheng Gao may look to invest time and money into the facilities at grassroots level in order to maintain strong depth at the club. St Mary’s Stadium has not exactly been a fortress as of late, but still provides a potent, enthralling atmosphere during their home games.

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That said, with other clubs in the top half including Everton, Tottenham, and Liverpool looking to build state-of-the-art stadia, it could be Saints who next seek to expand should they retain at least a top half finish.

Southampton moved from the Dell in 2001 to St Mary’s where it has been the home of Saints for the last 16 years. Since then, Saints have finished runners up in the FA Cup and the League Cup, despite their best efforts against Manchester United in 2017, coming from two goals behind to pull the scores level just after half-time, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic broke Saints supporter’s hearts late into the match.

Jisheng Gao, although taking a back seat role, will certainly look to build on this in the coming seasons, as well as continuing to grow in the league. It has not been an overly confident start by the Saints, however, they may cast a look at their neighbours Bournemouth in the game against Brighton on Friday night, and think that the same kind of performance could still be in their own locker.

It is Mauricio Pellegrino’s duty now to pull the player’s out of the locker room and fight for that red and white shirt.