Southampon FC has been sold to DMWSL613 Limited (owned by Swiss national Markus Liebherr) for an undisclosed sum (reportedly £12.5m). Markus Liebherr also owns and controls the Swiss-based Mali Group, which consists of five companies engaged in technologically advanced engineering.

Joint Administrator Mark Fry commented:

“The sale of the Saints to Markus Liebherr is a fantastic opportunity to rebuild the Club.

Markus Liebherr was attracted to Southampton by a number of qualities which include the Club’s rich sporting heritage, loyal fan base, first class stadium and training facilities and the potential for the Saints to regain their rightful place at the higher echelons of English football.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all Saints’ fans for their support and patience in what have been uncertain times for the Club. I would also like to wish both Markus and the Club well for future success.”

Things could have been so different for Southampton

Matt Le Tissier was supposed to come back and save Southampton from going out of existence. The former England player and Southampton legend played 540 games for the south coast side, scoring 209 goals over 14 years. But now, after a deal was agreed in principle, it seems like this role has been passed onto someone else.

The group Pinnacle, led by Le Tissier, entered a period of exclusivity on 29th May but saw that pass as they argued over the 10 point deduction put on place of Southampton next season for going into administration. This exclusivity passed on 19th June and the Pinnacle group withdrew its offer on 30th June, leaving Southampton in a state of panic and the new season approaching even closer.

Just over three months ago Southampton entered administration with debts amounting to £30 Million, and after Pinnacle pulled out there was worries that Southampton would not be able to continue as a football club. The club have already sold players in Andrew Surman for £1.2 Million, Nathan Dyer for £400,000 and David McGoldrick for £1 Million in order to ease the debts for a while and pay the wages of staff and players.

With the new owners coming in Wotte can expect to be given sufficient funds to bring in new players to mount a push for promotion back to the Championship next season.

One thing seem certain – Southampton’s troubles seem to be over and they can look forward to the new season with renewed hope and expectation as they see their troubles from the last couple of seasons lifted.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

With the credit crunch and the ever increasing debt in football, this summer looks set to be filled with a lot of high profile club buyouts. West Ham have recently been taken over by CB Holdings and Portsmouth and Newcastle look set to be the next clubs to be taken over in the English game. However, could these potential club changing decisions actually end up being worse in the long run than good?

Portsmouth’s expected takeover by Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim is one of the summer takeovers that could all end up in disaster. Al Fahim helped in the purchase of Manchester City last year and is the figure head again in the bid to buy Portmouth from Alexander Gaydamak. The deal will releave Portsmouth of their reported dire financial position and allow them to progress once again into Europe.

However, the timing of this purchase seems to be against Portsmouth with several key players out of contract at the end of last season. These players including Sol Campbell, Hermann Hreidarsson, Kanu and Sean Davis. All of whom were vital in their attempt to fight off relegation, but with the club unwilling to offer new contracts to players until the takeover has been completed how long will these players wait before they accept a deal at another club?

To add to Pompey’s problems Glen Johnson is expected to move to Liverpool, along with a cut price Sylvain Distan and Peter Crouch not wanting to commit himself to Portsmouth next season until the situation at the minute has been resolved and he gets answers.

If these players were to leave and look to play football elsewhere Portsmouth would be very short on numbers and would need to start desperately looking for players to balance the outgoings.  You could argue that the older players wouldn’t be that hard to replace, but that’s fine if you’re letting only a couple go but Portsmouth are letting almost a whole squad go. With a total 18 players from the youth to the first team out of contract, no pernament manager and a new stadium to pay for, Portsmouth could be in for a whole lot of trouble next season and could halt their progress as a club.

The takeover is expected to go through before the start of the Transfer Window on July 1st (although Fahim’s people say that it could go into July as well), which gives Portsmouth time to replace the player, but a manager would want to bring in his own signings to the club and if the new owners decide to look to someone else and not Paul Hart, and don’t already have someone lined up, then they could miss the opening couple of weeks of the transfer window.

Then you have to consider the type of players they’d need to look at to bring in, players like Matthew Upson would be unlikely to want to take a sideways step and Miguel also unlikely to choose Portsmouth over a team in Europe in Aston Villa. In the end Pompey may have to look to Championship players and unknown foreign players who would take time to settle and to perform in the Premiership.

Stability at West Ham

Another club with a question mark over their head still is West Ham. Their recent buyout by CB Holdings is supposed to be the end of their financial trouble and no longer need to look to sell players in order to buy. However, when you look at the deal more closely you see a lot still hasn’t changed. CB Holdings is just another branch of Straumer, the previous owners of West Ham.

The difference being that CB Holdings is now completely owned by the Icelandic Government after being nationalized. Previous owner Björgólfur Guðmundsson was the owner of Straumer and by the end of his tenure as West Ham chairman, was supposed to be upto £300 million in debt. CB Holdings may not be as much in debt as Guðmundsson was but they still have debt associated with their name, but it gives the Hammers some breathing room.

With the signing of Jiminez expected to be completed later this week West Ham at least have a leg to stand on when coping with the debt, with valuable players, an almost packed staidum and a youth system always producing good players. They may not have to sell players this summer but next summer is a different story.

Newcastle United in disarray

Third on the list of high profile takeovers is Newcastle United. It’s no secret Mike Ashley wants to sell and he’s given the fans every reason for why he should sell. Singapore-based Profitable Group has confirmed its interest in launching a takeover bid for Newcastle in an expected £100 million purchase. By all acounts this is good news for Newcastle fans and the club in general, they can finally look for some stability in the club which could’ve helped them last season.

However, again the timings seem to be against Newcastle and the team. Mike Ashley will be looking to make as much money out of the club as he can after accepting a £34.4 million loss on what he paid for the club, and with the entire Newcastle team up for sale he is sure to look to this in order to fund the loss he made.

This could end up being another bad decision though, Mike Ashley doesn’t want to appoint a new manager until a deal is sorted so they can bring in their own manager, and without a manager there’s no one out there looking to replace players that Mike Ashley is selling and by the time a deal is sorted and a manager is put in place it could be too close to the start of the season to bring in anyone in the hope of boucning straight back up. Newcastle could end up in the position Leeds are in in a few years time if they don’t sort of areas of the squad quickly.

No one knows what to expect from a club after a takeover deal has been put in place. It could end up being the best thing for the club, as in Aston Villa and Randy Lerner, or the worst thing the club could do, as in Newcastle and Mike Ashley. The recession is biting into clubs hard, with many League 1 clubs and below supposed to be dangerously close to administration. Darlington being the first club to show signs of the recession at the end of last season.

Takeovers will come thick and fast over the next couple of years as owners look to cut their loses and run, and clubs as a result may end up going backwards rather than forwards as a result.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

£80 million is a lot of money; the debate goes on over whether the world player of the year is worth it. In the meantime Manchester United has to find someone to replace a midfielder who gets around 30 goals a season. A tough ask for any manager, but the good news that comes with this is that Manchester United can now afford any player in the world. Here we look at the candidates who can fill those boots:

Karim Benzema – The Lyon and France striker has long been rumoured with a move to Manchester United. Could this be the year he moves? Last season Benzema notched up 23 goals in 47 games and the season before 31 goals in 52 games. An unproven striker on the big stage with only 6 goals for France but is he worth the punt? The striker is obviously held in high regard with Alex Ferguson but would he be prepared to spend approximately £30 million on a striker who could be a hit or miss signing so soon after over spending on Berbatov?

Ability to replace Ronaldo Rating: 6

Chase or Avoid? Avoid

Ashley Young – The Aston Villa and England winger was touted as a world beater early on in 2009 after performing so well in Villa’s chase for the Champions League places. Towards the end of the season he did start to fizzle out and looked tired. After recently breaking into the England squad Alex Ferguson would be a fool not to look at him as a possible replacement. He has the same sort of ability to go past a defender and can pull out a trick or two if needed. He may not be as prolific in front of goal as Ronaldo but his ability to create chances would replace that.

Ability to replace Ronaldo Rating: 8

Chase or Avoid? Chase

Wesley Sneijder – The 25 year old only joined Real Madrid in 2007 and impressed during the European Championships. With Aren Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo likely to be at Real Madrid next season competing for places, will the Holland international look for regular football elsewhere? Sneijder has the potential to score 20 goals a season even if he has yet produced that sort of form. However, he is soon to reach his peak and Real Madrid would want to get some high earners off the wage bill to cope with Ronaldo’s demands. United are unlikely though to want to exchange high amounts of money over a Sneijder deal as it would technically devalue the £80 million they got for Ronaldo in the first place, and this would cause a stumbling block.

Ability to replace Ronaldo Rating: 7

Chase or Avoid? Avoid

Antonio Valencia – The Wigan midfielder has reportedly been the subject of a £16 million bid from Manchester United already. The Ecuadorian midfielder is a favourite of Fergie’s, with the Wigan Chairman claiming that the United Manager has had someone watch him during every game this season. The player is tried and tested at Premiership level and looks like he could comfortably step up to the Champions League. But with only 7 goals since 2006 at Wigan, could he replace Ronaldo’s presence as a goal scoring threat on the pitch? A player Manchester United should look to sign up but can he really be considered a serious replacement for Ronaldo?

Ability to replace Ronaldo Rating: 5

Chase or Avoid? Avoid

David Silva – The Valencia winger is in the midst of a transfer scramble as the Spanish team look to sell its prize assets to stay afloat. After winning the European Championships with Spain in 2008, Silva has continued this form last season, even after missing the first few months due to ankle problems. What David Silva lacks in height he makes up in his ability on the ball. The 5ft 7in player knows how to get past any defender and can create spaces on the pitch for others to run into. Like Antonio Valencia he lacks the goal scoring ability to replace Ronaldo, but unlike Valencia he has the ability to be considered a goal scoring presence on the pitch. Untried in the Premiership and by many considered to be too light weight, could be the factors that turn Fergie to other targets. Nevertheless, with Valencia looking sell and Silva’s reputation, and ability to grow at just 23 years of age, could he be worth taking a gamble on?

Ability to replace Ronaldo Rating: 7

Chase or Avoid? Chase

In the end nobody can replace Ronaldo, he is one in a million. Unless Fergie can find another teenager to nurture, it is unlikely anyone will have the ability to fully replace Ronaldo.

Other players not mentioned here, that could be possible replacements are: Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Sergio Agüero. All three share the same potential to fill the void left by Ronaldo, but are otherwise unavailable, or too set in their ways to offer something different for Fergie. Ultimately it’s down to Sir Alex Ferguson and he will most likely surprise us on who he does end up signing.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News