THOUGH Saints have been linked with American billionarie Paul Allen, it was another losing Championship play-off semi-finalist who unveiled a new owner yesterday.

After more than three years of trying, Steve Morgan finally has his hands on an English football club.

But rather than being handed the reins to his beloved Liverpool, the millionaire businessman has somehow wound up at the helm of Wolves.

In fact, his purchase of the club is somewhat at odds with the philosophy he espoused while attempting to fight off outside investment at Anfield and buy out former Reds chairman David Moores.

"I believe the future of Liverpool football club is best served by the people who love the club the most - its supporters, of whom I am proud to be one," he said prior to Moores' decision to sell up to American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

Morgan's Molineux move is therefore very much one of 'gamekeeper turned poacher', especially when considering he has acquired the club for a just £10.

The purchase also appears to indicate that, despite his pronouncements to the contrary, he is businessman first, football fan second.

While Wolves president Sir Jack Hayward was the original Roman Abramovich, ploughing vast amounts of his personal fortune into his boyhood idols, Morgan is likely to run a much tighter ship.

Despite being ranked 177th in the Times Rich List, with a personal fortune of £450million, he was not considered to possess the financial clout to help Liverpool overhaul mega-bucks Chelsea and Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premiership.

Indeed, he has even claimed he is "no Roman Abramovich".

But that is not to say success will not follow at Wolves - far from it.

Having agreed to invest £30million at Molineux, Morgan will automatically turn the club into one of the biggest players in the Championship transfer market.

Also, while his Liverpool takeover may ultimately have failed, Morgan's track record in business is one of almost uninterrupted success.

Born in 1953 in Garston, he was only 21 when he borrowed £5,000 from his father to buy his then employers, Wellington Civil Engineering, which was on the verge of going out of business.

In the same year, 1974, he founded the the successful construction firm and house-builder Redrow, cashing in on shares to the tune of £198million in 2000.

By that time, he already boasted further investments in hotels, eventually merging his interests intothe De Vere Hotel Group - the Grand Harbour hotel in Southampton is just one of 42 De Vere hotels in the UK.

"All I knew for certain was that I had a passion for the construction industry, and was determined to make Redrow a success," he recalled in a company history produced for staff members.

A lifelong Liverpool fan, he was the club's third largest shareholder until the American takeover earlier this year, a move he eventually came to accept in return for £12million.

Until then, he had been at loggerheads with chairman Moores over how the club should be run.

"Whether we like or not, Premiership football is big business and needs to be approached with a very businesslike and commercial attitude," he said in book The Boot Room Boys.

"Football clubs are big businesses today. They have to be commercial and Manchester United have led the way in the this.

"But, at the same time, it's all about playing football and those lads going out on the park and winning the matches - that's what it's all about and let's not lose sight of that.

"Running businesses is like running a football club and being Mr Nice Guy is seldom the right attribute to head and lead a successful organisation, whether it's a football club, a hotel or a house building company".

While Wolves' financial muscle in the transfer market should be increased, chief executive Jez Moxey insists they will not succumb to the dangers of boom and bust economics.

Moxey said: "There is going to be investment into the team. But we're not going to have an open chequebook approach. We'll continue with the strategy we've developed this season with Mick (McCarthy) - selecting and recruiting young, hungry players".

One player who fits that bill perfectly - 21-year-old winger Michael Kightly - has enjoyed an outstanding first season after signing from non-League Grays Athletic.

Now McCarthy, who has received Morgan's backing to continue in charge, wants more of the same.

McCarthy said: "If you look at Michael Kightly, he could play anywhere and he cost £25,000.

"We haven't spent a lot of money on players but what they've all had is the desire to play and the work ethic.

"The most expensive buy was Andy Keogh (for £600,000 from Scunthorpe) and he's been brilliant. If you speak to everyone about the place they have a humility about them.

"Whoever I sign I want that attitude".