MICHAEL Wilde has branded as “nonsense” the claims that Saints would have been bought ages ago but for the major shareholders.

The fact the club’s parent company Southampton Leisure Holdings was a PLC is believed to have put previous investors off bidding.

The Echo has also been told that the three major shareholders and their personalities – Wilde, Rupert Lowe and Leon Crouch – were the reasons the club has remained up for sale for the last few years.

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