Leeds United may announce new manager within hours after what Phil Hay said
Phil Hay has issued an update on the San Francisco 49ers’ impending takeover of Leeds United this summer which may bring some swift movement on the managerial front at Elland Road.
After the takeover announcement on 10 June, 49ers Enterprises have now firmly placed their attention on filling the vacant managerial hot seat, but Andrea Radrizzani still remains Leeds United owner which may well be slowing down any opportunity to announce an appointment.
And according to Hay, speaking on the Square Ball podcast at 19:19, the Whites still need a green light from the EFL to gain official approval to be under new ownership.
He said: “I think it’s likely that we may get approval or a formal completion of this in the next week.
“It certainly seems to be getting there and there don’t seem to be any obstacles.
“Once it is complete and once Radrizzani is gone and they are officially 100 per cent owners of the club then the freedom to speak on this and that becomes easier and becomes greater.”
There’s a good chance that because the takeover hasn’t gone through the official channels yet at the EFL, progress isn’t being on the managerial front which may well have come as a source of frustration to the Leeds United faithful, with pre-season set to begin in two weeks.
The Radrizzani setback will have certainly hampered preparations but Hay’s update may now bring some much-needed optimism around Elland Road with a new managerial appointment now expected to be announced pretty imminently.
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth reported on 23 June that the Whites hoped to announce their preferred candidate as manager before Sunday [25 June] with vice-chairman Paraag Marathe set to jet back to America, but the issue involving the EFL approval seems to be the problem delaying any such announcement.
Former Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira was reported as the “serious contender” for the role, however, the Daily Mail [23 June] reported former Norwich City manager Farke as the leading candidate following a meeting on Friday [23 June].
With a gruelling and testing Championship campaign on the horizon, this may well prove to be one of the most important decisions over the past decade for Leeds United, especially with ambitions to make an immediate Premier League return.
And given Farke’s tremendous record in the Championship, don’t be surprised to see an announcement on his appointment in the next hours.
The German coach is a proven winner at this level, and with the Leeds faithful hugely expectant and demanding an immediate return to the Premier League this time next year, Farke is the best man to provide it.
Farke plays an attractive brand of football, works brilliantly with his players and will have an abundance of resources at Elland Road to ensure that should they get into the Premier League, he won’t suffer the same immediate fate he endured during his days as Norwich City manager.
With the club set to lose a number of key players, Leeds United will have a huge job replacing them and to complete that task, they need a plethora of experience and tact in the recruitment department this summer.
Leeds United cannot afford to lose such an established and exciting managerial candidate to return them back to the English summit, and for that reason, the 49ers may now be given the green light to make a swift announcement.
In other Leeds United news, “white smoke” has been tipped to arrive in the middle of the week for another departure from the Elland Road first team.