49ers radio silence at amid Leeds United asset-stripping fears explained by Angus Kinnear
Angus Kinnear has confirmed the reason for the 49ers’ radio silence during the Leeds United transfer window.
In the minutes from the Supporter Advisory Board meeting in August, made available via the club’s official website on 10 September, the CEO told attendees the owners had deliberate kept transfer information out of journalists’ hands during the summer to avoid deals being hijacked.
The Yorkshire Evening Post’s Graham Smyth highlighted fan dissatisfaction with the lack of communication from the club via the Inside Elland Road podcast on 5 September, after a window which saw multiple stars leave and Kieran Maguire had to assuage fears the 49ers were “asset-stripping” the club [The View Podcast, 6 August].
The minutes state: “[Angus Kinnear] says a lot of business now under this ownership is intentionally kept away from the media to stop other clubs from hijacking deals, hence the lack of rumours.”
Leeds United fans left adrift as Archie Gray and co. departed
The late-widow activity helped to rescue an increasingly dismal transfer window for Whites fans for a second summer running at Elland Road.
Four deals to boost Daniel Farke’s squad with Largie Ramazani, Manor Solomon, Ao Tanaka and Isaac Schmidt may have given the German enough to challenge for promotion this term but only came after fans saw a host of top stars leave.
Homegrown sensation Archie Gray’s move to Tottenham was a painful one for supporters, while both the top two attacking weapons also had exit clauses triggered as Crysencio Summerville joined West Ham and Georginio Rutter went to Brighton, and Glen Kamara was sold to Rennes among others.
Farke was ultimately left unhappy after the transfer deadline not to have been provided with a recognised number 10 [Graham Smyth, 2 September].
But his bosses might argue that the late success in landing four important signings justified their lack of communication.
However, that argument potentially falls down when the Whites seemingly spent a long time chasing Norwich City star Jonathan Rowe as their prospective Summerville replacement only to see him move to Marseille [HITC, 20 August].
And when the bizarre offer for Sheffield United star Gustavo Hamer went in too late to meet his exit clause [Alan Nixon, 26 August], and too low to do anything but upset Chris Wilder [The Star, 30 August], it won’t satisfy fans if they, and journalists, are simply shut out.
In other Leeds United news, Adam Pope reacted to new footage from the international break amid injury fears around a Whites star.
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