£1billion Leeds United development now more likely after ‘shock’ turn of events at Elland Road
Leeds United have completed the appointment of Sam Allardyce in a bid to save themselves from being relegated from the Premier League.
With the cost of relegation increasing year on year due to the gulf in finances between the Premier League and the Championship, clubs are becoming increasingly impatient with managers when their teams are going through bad runs.
That’s not to say that Javi Gracia didn’t deserve to be sacked by Leeds because the Spaniard had overseen the complete opposite of an improvement since replacing Jesse Marsch as the manager.
But had the financial divide between the top flight and second tier not been as sizeable as they are, there may have been less of a need for Leeds’ board to sell their souls to the devil to complete a “shock” move for Fireman Sam.
Ultimately, Andrea Radrizzani has gone against everything he’s ever stood for at Leeds and hired someone from the dark ages because he’s a proven pair of hands when it comes to steering teams away from trouble.
There are some issues, however.
Allardyce’s perfect survival record came to an end two years ago, in his last managerial role, when West Brom dropped into the Championship.
He’s also only got four games to turn things around for the Whites, who currently sit 17th in the Premier League and outside of the relegation zone only on a goal difference that took a battering under Gracia’s reign.
Plus, those four games are against Manchester City (A), Newcastle (H), West Ham (A) and Tottenham (H).
West Ham are all but safe and are competing in Europe still while Spurs have been utterly pathetic this season, meaning two of them are possibly winnable. But still, it’s not an easy way to end the campaign against two big-six clubs, one club in the Champions League for next season and another club who’s in the semi-finals of a European competition.
Survival means a lot to Andrea Radrizzani.
He’s got more at stake than most owners do when it comes to potentially being relegated because he has a £400million-plus deal hanging in the balance.
49ers Enterprises have the option to complete a takeover at Leeds by the end of January next year but it’s widely expected that the deal, worth over £400million, will be done this summer [The Athletic].
And if Leeds aren’t a Premier League club next season, it’s fair to say that the 49ers will want to renegotiate and Radrizzani is hardly going to have a leg to stand on.
You could even argue Leeds have already lost a substantial amount of value since that agreement with the 49ers was struck.
But still, the investment arm of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers have massive dreams for Leeds United Football Club, who they believe can be worth £1billion [The Athletic].
The 49ers haven’t got a hope in hell of that happening if Leeds go down – especially if the worst-case scenario pans out and the Whites are resigned to the EFL for a lengthy period again.
Stay up and who knows? Leeds could become one of the most valuable football clubs on the planet if the 49ers can steer them in the right direction.
With Allardyce in charge for the final four games, Leeds have definitely improved their chances of survival and, therefore, the chances of the 49ers’ £1billion dream coming true.
Selling your soul to the devil could be worth it if it’s worth 10 figures.
In other Leeds United news, Gary Lineker has reacted to the appointment of Allardyce at Elland Road.