Dragan Solak's stance on Southampton FC sale emerges amid big Simon Jordan claim | OneFootball

The lead investor in Sport Republic has reportedly stated his loyalty to the club.

Southampton chairman Dragan Solak has reportedly told senior figures at St Mary's that he is committed to the Saints amid speculation that the club is up for sale.

The on-the-pitch future of the Hampshire side is already up in the air. Southampton have been managerless for the better part of a month now following their decision to sack Ivan Juric after the club was relegated to the Championship.

The hunt still goes on for the Croatian's successor, and that comes amid rumours that there could be major changes at the boardroom level too.

Former Crystal Palace chairman turned talkSPORT presenter, Simon Jordan, revealed on the radio, on Monday, that he'd heard that Southampton may be up for sale.

However, that does not appear to be the case at this moment in time following fresh developments.

Sport Republic, the investment group who hold the majority stake in the club, only took over in January 2022 when they bought 80% of the Saints from former owner Gao Jisheng.

They reportedly paid £100 million for those shares, but the recent speculation suggested that they only wanted £125 million to get themselves away from St Mary's.

The chances of Dragan Solak selling Southampton revealed

The situation now has some more clarity, with local outlet the Daily Echo reporting that Solak, the club's chairman, is not outright looking to sell and that he has recently expressed to senior members of staff that he intends to stay in charge of the club.

The £125 million price tag is also said to be quite far off the mark of what Sport Republic would even consider selling for.

Solak, a Serbian businessman and the lead investor in Sport Republic, became chairman in January after another co-owner of the investment group, Henrik Kraft, stepped down following poor performances.

The Echo further stated that Solak is "closely attentive to detailed planning of long-term club projects," which are a long way from completion, therefore indicating his commitment to the club.

He spoke to talkSPORT in January about his desire to see the Saints flourish under his tenureship. "I feel completely at home here and I'm as passionate as ever to make this club successful," claimed the Serbian, as per the Echo.

"That's why I decided to assume the chair. I show everybody that I'm going nowhere and I will do everything I can to make it work."

Selling Southampton now wouldn't make sense for Sport Republic

Even though it was clear that the Saints were heading out of the Premier League when the investment group took over on the south coast, the future that lay ahead of them was brighter than it is now.

Despite a select group of clubs, including the Saints, appear to be bouncing up and down between the first and second tiers, Southampton's chances of a quick Premier League return aren't as secure as they were the last time they went down. That's only natural when you've been relegated twice in three years.

With relegation, and, more importantly, not being in the Premier League, comes a drop in the value of the club.