DRAGAN Solak insisted he would not be spending astronomical amounts of money on new players for Saints’ squad.

The Serbian-born media businessmen is the lead investor in Sport Republic, the investment firm which acquired Gao Jisheng’s 80 per cent majority stake in the St Mary’s side.

Solak was present to see Saints seal a 4-1 victory over Brentford earlier this month.

But in an interview with the Financial Times, Solak insisted the investment group would not be overspending in the transfer market.

He said: “I’m not the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi or the prince of Saudi Arabia.

“I cannot bring 500m to buy new players.”

Saints are yet to spend in the January transfer window, although manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said following the takeover the new owners meant “we get the chance to be earlier in our signings”.

He added: “It doesn’t mean that we change our behaviours and go out into the market and buy everything that is available for us, it doesn’t make sense.

“We want to pick the players, the (Tino) Livramento and the (Armando) Broja players that are around.”

Speaking about transfers on January 4, the day the takeover was announced, chief executive Martin Semmens said Sport Republic’s investment would tie in with the club’s current strategy.

He told BBC Radio Solent: “I think the most important thing is we have a plan in place.

“We have a strategic plan – it’s sitting on my desk in front of me and that's what Sport Republic have bought into and we will continue on that path.

“So the transfer window, we will always do our way and you're very aware of that. But are we in a better position today than we were yesterday? Absolutely.

“It allows us to focus in on the things we're doing already potentially doing a bit quicker.”