FORMER Dell boss Graeme Souness has been linked with a takeover of Saints.

Souness hit the headlines two months ago when he made an official £20m bid to take over Wolves.

That offer was rejected, but the former Scottish international has always maintained his bid remains on the table.' It was never made public whether the £20m Souness mentioned was purely for team strengthening or just to gain control of the club.

Now Souness has watched Saints' last two games, at Preston and Stoke.

He still has a house in Hampshire from his time as Saints boss in 1996/97, but the property - near Winchester - was up for sale earlier this year.

Saints' search for new investors is still ongoing in the wake of chairman Michael Wilde's resignation last month.

Wilde's inability to attract new investment to St Mary's was the primary reason he stepped down after just eight months in the chair.

Souness' bid to takeover Wolves back in January was backed by Scottish businessman Brian Kennedy, the owner of top English rugby union club Sale Sharks.

Kennedy has always been keen to buy into professional football.

Nine years ago he made a failed attempt to buy Hibernian. He then failed in his bid to buy London Scottish RFC, relocate them to Edinburgh and play in the English Premiership.

Instead, he turned his attentions to Sale, who won the English title last season for the first time.

Souness, meanwhile, has been out of football since being sacked by Newcastle 13 months ago. He had spent less than two years in charge on Tyneside after leaving Blackburn in September 2004.

He had been manager of Rovers since March 2000 - his first English job since leaving Saints in the wake of Rupert Lowe's arrival as chairman in June 1997.

Souness' resignation also triggered the departure of Lawrie McMenemy, who of course is now back on the board at Saints.

Were Souness to show any interest in taking over Saints, though, the situation would not be as easy as at Wolves.

That's due to Saints' PLC structure - unlike Wolves, who are owned by one man, Sir Jack Hayward.

Saints' current stock market value is just under £13m.