Leeds United fans can now see light at end of the tunnel at Elland Road as 49ers takeover update emerges
Light now appears to be emerging from a dark and uncertain tunnel at Elland Road as the 49ers’ takeover of Leeds United is set to be “finally confirmed” by the EFL.
The American consortium, after the buy-out of Andrea Radrizzani was eventually agreed on 9 June, have been desperately waiting for EFL approval on their ownership which has slowed down their summer progress in not only announcing their position at Elland Road but also an announcement on their new manager
The appointment of Daniel Farke had been held up as the Whites hoped the green light would arrive from the league first, but the West Yorkshire outfit pushed ahead and the German was announced on 4 July in order to get him in place for the start of pre-season training.
Finally, it appears that the ratification process is now almost complete, with new and fresh developments at the top of the club reportedly on the way imminently.
According to Mike Keegan in the Daily Mail on Sunday night (16 July): “Leeds’s takeover by 49ers Enterprises is set to [be] finally confirmed by the EFL in the near future.”
As The Athletic journalist Phil Hay pointed out recently, the delay in the 49ers sale being made official was as a result of the late agreement between Radrizzani and the 49ers as much as the EFL intentionally delaying checks to formally announce them as owners.
It has clearly taken longer than was expected at Elland Road, as there was a hope that the deal would be cleared two weeks ago at the latest.
While the snag appeared to slow down Farke’s appointment at the helm, the 49ers were indeed bold to push ahead with the announcement despite the cloud hanging over their heads, but arguably the next biggest priority at Elland Road has been placed on the back-burner with the Championship campaign now just over two weeks away, and that is the recruitment.
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth [6 July, 14m:00], speaking on the Inside Elland Road podcast, said he expects the takeover announcement to go through before Leeds kicks off their transfer moves.
He said: “I wouldn’t expect too much in the way of incoming transfers until they’ve cleared the decks of those who don’t want to be here, those they don’t want to keep, those that they can’t keep.
“And also, I imagine the takeover is gonna go through before they start making major incoming moves and signing off on big expenditure whether that be wages or transfer fees.”
But with the Daily Mail’s new takeover update, that uncertainty now appears to be lifting, which means the 49ers can now kick on with strengthening Farke’s squad, with so many of his key stars now set to depart Elland Road.
As with everything this summer it will be better late than never once the takeover process is finally announced, and the Elland Road supporters will have to hope that incoming transfers can start to flow nicely as a result.
Leeds United need to quickly rebuild the squad in order to ensure they are challenging immediately once their season kicks against Cardiff City on 6 August and that means the Whites must identify and recruit their targets swiftly and efficiently.
With no new definitive timescale set for the appointment to arrive, it may still of course be imminent and the Leeds United faithful can now rest assured knowing that the exhausting uncertainty the club have been steeped under is now seemingly at its wits end.
In other Leeds United news, one Whites player has been given extra holiday time amid a Thorp Arch update.