Paraag Marathe breaks silence on Farke sack as behind-scenes Leeds talks emerge
Paraag Marathe has broken his silence on the possibility of sacking Daniel Farke in the wake of Leeds United’s promotion to the Premier League.
There has been a lot of speculation around Farke’s future at Elland Road since he clinched automatic promotion to the Premier League on Easter Monday (21 April).
Leeds are said to have drawn up a list of potential candidates to replace the German tactician, with Marathe also flying in from San Francisco to hold crunch talks with the manager.
Farke sparked further talk of an imminent departure from LS11 after he cut a gloomy figure during the Whites’ title celebrations at Plymouth on Saturday, 3 May.
Marathe publicly backs Farke at Leeds
Just a day after Leeds clinched the Championship title, Marathe has broken his silence over Farke by confirming that the manager will be backed in the Premier League next season.
The Leeds chairman admitted that he had decided to remain silent in recent days to allow the Whites to finish the season without any distractions.
He also described the speculation about Leeds sacking Farke as ‘gossip’, stressing his desire to ‘run it back’ with the former Norwich manager.
The 49ers chief went on to reveal plans to invest ‘every penny’ the West Yorkshire outfit can to build a squad capable of competing in the Premier League.
“I do have something to say and, and you know, I am someone who will speak when I have something to say and when I feel like it’s the right time for me”, Marathe said via quotes relayed by Graham Smyth on Yorkshire Evening Post (4 May).
“I’m not one to respond because some random gossip paper wants to say something. I’m not going to make comments based on rumours and gossip. But now, today is that day.
“I was waiting for the season to conclude. I wanted to win a trophy, just like Daniel did, just like the players did, just like all the staff did, and we got that goal.
“My plan was always to come and speak to you all right after the season concluded, and so that time is now, and I want to tell you all that I’m very excited to run it back with Daniel.
“I’m really excited about collaborating with Daniel, with Robbie Evans, who we promoted to managing director, with Adam Underwood, who we promoted to sporting director, and together, we are going to build the best squad that we can with every penny that we’re allowed to spend to go and compete in the Premier League.”
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points |
| 104 | 61 | 24 | 19 | 207 |
Marathe also lifted the lid on his behind-the-scenes conversations with Farke, revealing that they have been in constant touch.
He explained that the 48-year-old has already been informed of Leeds’ plans to back him ahead of their return to the Premier League.
“We continue to stay in touch all the time”, the chairman added.
“I did tell him privately that I’m looking forward to moving forward together, and I just didn’t feel like it was my time to speak just because someone wanted to put out a rumour or whatever.
“It wasn’t my place in time to speak at that point. But I did talk to him privately.”
Furthermore, Marathe hit out at speculation about Farke’s future and expressed his sympathy towards the manager and his staff for having to deal with it.
Farke to stay at Elland Road
This comes as a surprise considering the number of reports that claimed Leeds are considering parting ways with Farke at the end of the season.
However, the Elland Road faithful will be pleased with the news, as Farke has proven to be a popular figure among the fans after leading them to a 100-point finish in the Championship.
It now remains to be seen how much the Peacocks will back the former Borussia Mönchengladbach boss in the transfer market.
He had little to no support when he earned promotion with Norwich twice.