The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon has claimed that new Southampton owner Dragan Solak looked reminiscent of Mike Ashley when holding a club scarf recently.
In early January, the Serbian-born businessman took over the club in a deal worth a reported £100m. Now, according to Sheldon, the owner has already caught the eye when attending a recent game.
Will Dragan Solak be a success at Southampton?
Yes
No
Indeed, Solak was spotted by the journalist waving a scarf given to him by a fan. Sheldon claimed this is the ‘cardinal sin’ for any new owner, with Ashley doing the same when he took over Newcastle United.
While speaking on the Total Saints podcast, the football writer said: “I saw he’s kind of waving the scarf and I thought, oh no, that’s just cardinal sin for any new owner to do, isn’t it, [to] like, wave the club scarf.
“You’ve seen Mike Ashley do it, you’ve seen them all do it, and you just think ‘please don’t do it’. But when you found out where he got it from, it’s quite a nice little story to it.”
He later added: “The fan that gave him the scarf at the end, he [Solak] gave the scarf back and gave him his club tie as a thank-you.”
TIF Thoughts on Dragan Solak and Southampton…
Solak will certainly not want to be viewed in the same way that Newcastle fans viewed Ashley. However, as Sheldon went on to clarify, this moment seemed quite genuine as the new owner later gave his tie to the fan who had given him the scarf.
While Willy Caballero has come in on a free to provide backup in the goalkeeper department so far in January, the Saints and Solak are yet to invest any transfer money on new players this winter.
No doubt, a little spending would likely be a great way to endear himself to his new fans. Still, the club look relatively comfortable sitting in 12th place in the league, so there is no big need for major money to be spent as things stand.
In other news: Southampton tipped to ‘exploit’ potential Livramento-esque deal pending one condition