SAINTS owners Sport Republic are reportedly in discussions to acquire two new clubs in Turkish side Goztepe and French outfit Valenciennes.

Turkish media had reported interest from Rasmus Ankersen, Sport Republic’s CEO, in Goztepe – who were relegated from the Super Lig last season – over the past few months.

Goztepe, based in Izmir, are considered an authentic neighbourhood club. They had been in the Super Lig since 2017, before relegation this campaign.

Their 2016-17 promotion to the top division completed a 10 year run which saw them rise from a one-year stint at amateur level.

Valenciennes have spent much of their history bouncing between Ligue 1 and 2, finishing 16th out of 20 in Ligue 2 and narrowly avoiding relegation last campaign.

Sport Republic, founded by Dragan Solak, Henrik Kraft and Ankersen purchased a majority share from former Saints chairman Gao Jisheng to acquire the St Mary’s club in January.

They immediately declared it was their intentions to build a multi-club portfolio across the world, resembling the likes of Red Bull’s set-up.

Now, The Athletic report that the investment firm are in discussions to acquire European clubs Goztepe and Valenciennes.

They add that Sport Republic’s talks with Goztepe are believed to be slightly further along than the negotiations with Valenciennes, but that Ankersen, Kraft and Solak are also looking at clubs in other leagues.

They detail that they are particularly interested in teams with the potential to play in the top-flights in Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and Turkey, as they are considered “band two” competitions.

Similar to Red Bull’s methods, owning multiple clubs would allow players to move around between the group gaining various experiences and footballing opportunities to aid development.

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