Leeds United: Andrea Radrizzani blasted amid £146m development at Elland Road
Adam Pope has blasted Andrea Radrizzani for overspending and failing to keep Leeds United in the Premier League last season.
Writing on the BBC Sport website on Thursday (11 April), the BBC Radio Leeds journalist said it was a “testing” 12 months for the Whites under the previous owner’s watch after the latest accounts revealed that their wage bill increased by 20 per cent to £146million in 2022/23.
The club also forked out a further £9.5million to pay off previous managers Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia as they were relegated to the Championship before San Francisco 49ers Enterprises completed a takeover last year.
“There is no doubt that the previous board under then chairman and majority owner Andrea Radrizzani flashed the club’s credit card in a failed bid to preserve top-flight status beyond a third campaign before full control was handed to San Francisco 49ers Enterprises last September,” said Pope.
“With the wage bill having risen 20 per cent to £146million, and payoffs for head coaches like Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia costing £9.5million, it was a testing 12 months for United.”
Who is to blame for Leeds United accounts?
There are various people who were to blame for landing Leeds in trouble last year, but Radrizzani was the man in charge and has to take the brunt of it.
He allowed Victor Orta to make a number of high-profile signings on financially poor deals for the club before sacking him towards the back end of last season.
He wasn’t the only Elland Road chief to move on, with Marsch and Gracia being sent packing during the campaign and Sam Allardyce not having his deal extended following the relegation.
It was chaotic and it’s no real surprise that the Whites found themselves back in the second tier, where they now seem to have turned a corner under the new ownership.
That has been helped by the job Daniel Farke has been doing to help steady the ship this season as his side are well-placed in their bid to make an immediate return to the Premier League.
In other Leeds United news, Troy Deeney has shared a Whites promotion prediction.
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