SO RUPERT Lowe would sell Saints for £25m.

But, according to one investment expert, the chairman was probably sticking his finger in the wind when he announced that figure earlier this week.

For the club, which netted a £2.9m profit last year but already faces a £20m hit in revenues following the drop to the Championship, is unlikely to attract any serious interest at that high price.

Industry analysts warn that there are just too many moving pieces, too many uncertainties, at the moment for a Malcolm Glazer-style buy-out seen at Manchester United.

Saints' share price, which has tumbled to around 23p from a five-year high of 56p last July, may yet go down even more.

At the moment the club is worth about £6.6m; last summer it had a market capital worth of more than £15m. If the profits cannot be maintained, investors quickly run for cover.

One financial observer said: "If Harry Redknapp goes, or people don't buy as many season tickets as last year, or players start deserting, the share price will go down again.

"A serious buyer would hope that the price continues to drop so that they can pick it up for a song.

"However, if anyone came on board now it would be from the four Fs - fools, fanatics, friends or family."

A genuine potential owner has various ways of gaining control of the club, which, as a publicly listed company under the trading name of Southampton Leisure Holdings, is the subject of various company rules.

They could do what Glazer did and buy up as many shares as possible.

The Saints have 27 million of them, with the largest individual holders being club directors like Lowe and managing director Andrew Cowen.

Under the rules, a potential predator would have to announce themselves if they bought 30 per cent or more of the club's shares.

At 50 per cent, the predator has the right to fire and hire the board of directors. At 75 per cent, absolute control is gained, which means the remaining 25 per cent of shareholders can be forced to sell.

Getting the money to start buying your way into power is not easy, though. Any chairman wannabe would have to be fairly rich - a few million would get the ball rolling. Then, sitting on a pile of cash, the predator could start buying shares and issuing cheques to grateful sellers.

Another way is to borrow money to buy the club, though that is complicated. You would need lots of security and assets in the way of an enviable property portfolio to be taken seriously by financiers, who will want a swift return on their investment.

The borrowing, however, could be syndicated, with the banks or other lenders splitting the costs to share the risks should the business score a costly own goal.

There is a third way - a share-for-share exchange.

To do this, you need to own a publicly quoted company and, in effect, do a straight swap.

Examples of the best include high street retailers BhS and Mothercare, and Debenhams and Burtons.

Whether a Glazer comes in, or the club - which was regarded by the board as "undervalued" at 44p a share last September - is approached by one of the four Fs, remains to be seen. "The dust has got to settle," said the industry analyst.