Over the past few days, there have been a few articles written about the fact that Southampton’s owner, Dragan Solak, wants to buy Levski Sofia.
Not only that, but it was alleged that he would be ready to wipe the club’s €8m debt in the process, allowing them to start afresh.
However, the latest from Bulgaria is a bit different, as Kotasport are reporting that ‘there is no progress in the negotiations’ between Levski Sofia and Sport Republic, who own Southampton, described as a ‘subsidiary of United Group’.
While some might have suggested a deal could be taking place soon, that doesn’t appear to be the case, as the club’s current majority owner, Nasko Sirakov, ‘did not have a meeting with United Group representatives this week’.
Nor did the club’s former owner, Vasil Bozhkov, make any progress with Solak and co. about recovering the debt, as the two sides ‘have not yet reached an agreement’.
Despite all this, ’it’s expected that by the end of the calendar year, there will be some development in negotiations’.
There is also no real sign of worry from Kotasport that this would fall through, as the Southampton owners ‘do not hide their interest in acquiring Levski’, before adding that it is ‘very likely’ that the deal ‘will only be completed in 2023’.
What this means for the Saints isn’t clear, but if it’s anything like the partnership between any of the City Group clubs or the one involving Watford and Udinese, it could be profitable down the line, with talent being sent on loan to develop or them having priority on an up and coming youngster.
