Back in the big time, the minnows claimed top six scalps, nurtured and sold top players, reached a cup final and played European football. High-profile managers came and went but the Saints marched on regardless. The club’s saviour, Swiss businessman Markus Liebherr – a rare benign specimen among rapacious foreign owners – suddenly died in 2010, a year after buying and saving the club from oblivion, and ownership was handed to his daughter, Katharina, who abided by his wish to keep the Saints in EPL heaven.

A whirlwind decade later, the club is once more tottering on the brink of relegation, murky business-dealing question marks again hang over the stadium, and from the East has blown a nebula of obfuscation and secrecy that has choked the Saints’ signature ambitious navigation.

It was claimed this week the EPL is probing whether the Chinese state has gained a significant stake in the English south coast club after its majority shareholder owner, the billionaire real estate mogul, Gao Jisheng, sold a 30 per cent controlling stake of his Shenzhen-registered sports investment vehicle, Lander Sports, to the state-owned Chengdu Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, CASAC, for 1.3 billion yuan (US$194 million).

CASAC is one of the independently-run regional branches of the centrally-governed Assets Supervision and Administration Commissions, which manage government companies across all sectors, from real estate, to finance, heavy industries, cultural attractions and the media.

Employing a team of top business lawyers, Gao out-manoeuvred the EPL, setting up and registering Lander UK with Companies House in London, and using “his own money” to buy from Katharina Libber an 80 per cent stake for £210 million.

The CASAC deal has, however, again roused the EPL’s suspicion.

“This is a non-story. Gao set up a separate UK company to acquire the club and the ownership of that business remains unchanged,” a credible source with interests within the club told the Post. “It’s as though the EPL have a personal vendetta against Gao,” he added.

A Southampton spokesman insisted the club “continues to be owned” by Gao.

The EPL refused to confirm or deny if it was again probing Gao’s takeover. “We can’t comment on reports about contact between the EPL and clubs,” said a spokesperson.

But the Post understands the EPL is demanding the Saints board clarifies why and in what way Gao is restructuring his China business dealings.

“And so they should keep asking for transparency and clarification – as should the fans, because any ownership by a Chinese billionaire raises many questions,” said economist and China business specialist, Fraser Howie, the co-author of Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China’s Extraordinary Rise.

He said Gao’s sale of a major stake in Lander Sports to CASAC could be an act of patronage, a way to raise money, or to pay off debts, or “a trophy” purchase for Chengdu officials.

“It’s would be difficult, given the deliberate obfuscation, to make a connection and prove Chinese state ownership of Southampton FC, though we may never know for sure. But it would be naive to think there isn’t a connection between the two Lander companies given Gao’s beneficial ownership of both,” Howie added.

“What it does expose is the tremendous gaps in knowledge of how business is conducted in China, and Gao’s ownership poses a moral dilemma for Saints fans. They should also ask if any money from the China Lander sale will be reinvested in the cub,” he said.

During Wednesday night’s under-23 international against Dinamo Zagreb II at St Mary’s, loyal fans Pete Wallis, 66, Alan Hammond, 68, and Paul Harris, 68, expressed concern at Gao’s business dealings.

“I was suspicious of Gao’s buy-in from the start, and if true, any Chinese state involvement does not sit well with me. It’s not good PR for the Saints to be associated with – let alone owned by – an oppressive government. I haven’t forgotten Tiananmen [Square],” Hammond said.

“If he made some investment in the squad, then maybe we could believe he’s here for the club and not for himself and his family [Gao’s daughter sits on the board]. But he has not made a single statement to the fans let alone offer cash for players,” Wallis said.

Southampton is one of 14 EPL clubs that are foreign-owned or controlled, with champions Manchester City a stand out example of state connections. Its owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan is a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.

Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, said supporters, “without whom clubs would not exist”, have every right to know exactly who has ultimate and beneficial ownership.

According to the club, Gao is “a very private man”. He is also a rare visitor to St Mary’s – though he was, according to the club, present last Friday evening for the Liverpool game. Which red team he was supporting remains unclear, however.