A MULTI-MILLION pound takeover of Saints may depend on the success or failure of their push to the Premiership.

Potential investor Paul Allen could be waiting until the end of the Championship season before deciding whether to make a formal offer for Southampton FC.

The co-founder of Microsoft and the world's 19th richest man with an estimated fortune of £9bn has been heavily linked with a potential takeover of the club.

Saints confirmed in a statement to the Stock Exchange last Friday that they have received an enquiry from an unknown party. That is believed to be from Allen, though his spokesman has denied any knowledge of it.

Any formal bid could well depend on Saints winning promotion to the cash-rich Premiership.

The 1-0 win at Norwich City at the weekend took George Burley's side back into the Championship play-off zone - though they still need to beat Southend at home next Sunday in their final match and hope results elsewhere go their way to ensure a top six finish.

Promotion via the play-offs will be worth an estimated minimum of £55m to the club - £35m from just being part of the Premiership next season and £10m for two seasons of parachute payments if the club get relegated at the first time of asking.

A well-placed Saints source told the Echo: "I don't think any formal bid would come until Saints' season is over and we know what division they are playing in."

The Echo understands that Allen's intermediaries first made contact with Saints chief executive Jim Hone back in January of this year.

At that time Michael Wilde was still chairman of the club's football board, but had handed over responsibility for the search for new investors to Hone and PLC board chairman Ken Dulieu. Wilde resigned his post in February.

It is believed all Saints' meetings so far have been with Allen's representatives, and not the man who owns the Seattle Seahawks American Football League franchise.

On Friday a spokesman for Allen denied he had made a bid for Saints - a statement that was met with surprise from a Saints insider.

One other party has also been in fairly regular contact with Saints in recent months regarding the possibility of new investment, but the interest from the Allen camp has been the strongest.