Andrea Radrizzani done as Leeds United investor with £450m 49ers windfall on horizon, never liked to spend – finance expert
Andrea Radrizzani looks to have reached the end of his time putting money into Leeds United with the 49ers takeover on the horizon, says Kieran Maguire.
The Italian is in line to receive up to £450million to sell his controlling share in the club to the US-based enterprise in the summer if Javi Gracia keeps the club in the Premier League.
As such, Maguire believes he has ended his investment into the club as it was never part of his ownership model to spend rather that utilise the Whites’ popularity via other revenue streams.
The football finance expert from the University of Liverpool said on The Price of Football (20 April, 40m 55s): “We’re fully aware that San Francisco 49ers Enterprises owns a significant stake in Leeds United with a potential view to a takeover of the club.
“There have also been some stories running in the press that is somewhere in the region of £400million-£450million if Leeds United are a Premier League club.
“But if they are not a Premier League club then that probably drops to somewhere in the region of £100million-£150million.
“But it looks as if Andrea Radrizzani has come to the end of his involvement as a significant investor, ie. putting physical cash into the club, and he hasn’t historically been a person who’s wanted to put money in.
“He’s used the fact that Leeds have got a big fanbase, they sell huge amounts of merchandise, they’re very popular with broadcasters, they’re very popular with commercial partners.”
Handover
On the surface having a business running self-sufficiently is probably a very sensible idea, but from a competitive point of view it puts Leeds United at a disadvantage.
Such is the state of professional football that isn’t enough to keep a club at the top table for long, and back-to-back relegation battles prove that.
Given there has been fairly significant recent expenditure in the January window, over and above the summer spend which was funded by selling Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, it is fair to wonder whether the majority owner’s end point as an investor was actually some months ago.
Everything appears to be in place for the next chapter of the club’s history to begin under the stewardship of the 49ers and all sides are now sitting with their fingers crossed hoping that the team keeps that deal on the table.
Two heavy defeats in a row has it hanging in the balance, and promises for a pretty bleak short-term future if Radrizzani finds himself lumbered with a second-tier club that can’t command anything near his agreed asking price.
Unless he is ready to take the hit and sell at the reduced price either way he would need to be prepared to become an investor once more as the club’s revenue would take a significant hit, so with just a matter of weeks until the sale potentially goes through the stakes of this fight against the drop even surpass last season’s.
In other Leeds United news, one Whites ace reacted off camera to Javi Gracia’s latest snub amid links to an Elland Road exit.