Southampton owner Dragan Šolak once revealed his three biggest priorities - football isn't one

Dragan Solak's three biggest priorities in life do not involve Southampton

Dragan Solak is the leading figure of the investment firm Sport Republic and they first invested in Southampton in January 2022.

The 62-year-old has overseen a tumultuous period for the Saints on the pitch, with the team losing their status as a regular in the Premier League.

The Hampshire outfit have become a yo-yo club, with the side settling into a second consecutive season in the Championship for 2026/27.

Solak will be hoping that Southampton can overcome stiff competition to earn a place back in the top flight, particularly after the controversy that surrounded their failure to earn promotion in the previous campaign.

Dragan Solak’s three biggest priorities

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Solak has earned a lot of criticism from supporters for how he’s handled the ownership of Southampton, with the team’s decline prompting a lot of backlash.

However, the Serbian has admitted that the Saints are not his biggest priority in life, and that he has other hobbies and responsibilities that he takes more seriously.

“My top priorities are my family and golf, and then I would say business,” said Solak, via the Guardian, in 2022.

The majority of Solak’s wealth is tied up in the 33 per cent of United Group, a company based in the Netherlands that he founded, which controls a lot of the media across the Balkans.

Dragan Solak’s political ambitions

Solak received a lot of criticism from the former Serbian prime minister Ana Brnabic, who claimed that the Southampton owner is part of an oligarchy with close ties to a previous government.

The 62-year-old has avoided his home country due to security reasons, and he has kept himself out of the spotlight since taking over at St. Mary’s.

However, he has also dismissed any suggestions that he has political aspirations, and that the world of politics is not even in his top 100 priorities.

“Politics is nowhere in the top 100. I don’t care about politics,” he continued.

“I became a political figure only because I wouldn’t allow them to change the way we operate our news channels.”

Dragan Solak’s time in charge at Southampton

Solak first invested in Southampton in January 2022, with the team going on to finish 15th in the Premier League table under Ralph Hassenhuttl.

However, his first full campaign as part of the Saints’ ownership saw the club drop out of the top flight and into the Championship after a decade away from the second tier.

Russell Martin was able to steer the Hampshire outfit back to the first division, but another 20th place finish led to their relegation again.

Tonda Eckert led Southampton to the play-offs in 2025/26, but the club were removed from the competition after being found guilty of breaching the EFL’s rules against spying on opposition teams in training.

Dragan Solak denies Southampton exit claims

Solak’s time in charge at Southampton has not been too popular, with the team’s decline into the Championship leading to a lot of frustration.

But the Serbian has also invested in other football clubs, such as Turkish side Goztepe, and French outfit Valenciennes.

And in an interview with the BBC in 2025, Solak denied that he was looking to sell his stake in the Championship team.

While he left the door open for potential investment from elsewhere, he made it clear that he has no plans to go anywhere any time soon.

"I have never had any plans of selling the club," Solak said.

"We have quite a few very exciting projects.

"I might invite some partners to join me if and when we are promoted to the Premier League, because I think we'll need maybe more [investment].

"But selling was never on my mind, I was thinking much more about this 10-year project of how to develop the club commercially and financially so it is more robust and less dependent on TV rights deals."