Leeds United chiefs Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear spotted in New York amid speculation

Victor Orta and Angus Kinner have been spotted in New York amid speculation surrounding a full Leeds United takeover by the 49ers.

New York City FC striker Valentin Castellanos has also been linked with a move to Elland Road [LeedsLive] while there are also obvious connections to the States in Jesse Marsch and new signing Brenden Aaronson.

It remains to be seen why director of football Orta and chief executive Kinnear are in New York but an image of them has emerged on Massimo Marinelli's Instagram account at a restaurant in Manhattan.

Marinelli is also on the board of directors at Leeds and he captioned the image by jokingly saying: "Always so excited to see me.

"But the food (and wine) was great."

Why are they there?

There are plenty of reasons for Orta, Kinnear and Marinelli to be in New York.

The Telegraph reported on 24 May that the San Francisco 49ers are likely to try and complete a full takeover at Leeds this summer and while New York is on the other side of the USA, there's a chance the Leeds chiefs are stopping over there on their way.

However, if it was something to do with the 49ers then where is Andrea Radrizzani?

Aaronson is in the USA squad and they play against Morocco in the early hours of Thursday (2 June) in UK time. However, that game is being played at the TQL Stadium, which is in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Of course, they could still make their way to Ohio before the game.

What's intriguing is that Castellanos plays for New York City and has been linked with Leeds.

Interestingly, TN Deportivo reported on 16 February that the 23-year-old Argentine could be sold by the reigning MLS Cup champions to Leeds United in June.

It's now June and Leeds need a striker.

Coincidence? Maybe not.

In other Leeds United news, the Whites have hijacked a multi-million transfer that was expected to be completed.