Internal conflict emerges at 49ers Enterprises, investors at odds over Leeds United takeover amid £150m twist
Not everyone at 49ers Enterprises is on board with the idea of buying Leeds United from Andrea Radrizzani, according to The Guardian.
The newspaper reported on their website on Friday (26 May) that the 49ers’ takeover would be in “jeopardy” if the Whites were to be relegated from the Premier League this weekend.
It is understood that not all of the investors at the San Francisco-based group would remain keen on buying Leeds if they become a Championship club.
The Guardian claims that the 49ers see a deal for a Championship version of Leeds to be worth £150million, instead of the £400million that was agreed if they remain a Premier League club.
However, “there are doubts as to whether a satisfactory compromise could be reached” with Radrizzani.
Leeds need new owners.
Or at the very least, there needs to be some kind of clarity about the situation at Elland Road because one of the reasons that Victor Orta and previous managers were perhaps unable to do their jobs properly was because of the behind-the-scenes limbo.
49ers Enterprises are Schrodinger’s owners at Leeds. They are owners but at the same time, they’re not.
That’s the impression that’s been given anyway because it’s been widely expected that the investment arm of the NFL franchise San Francisco 49ers will buy Radrizzani out of Elland Road this summer or at the very least by January 2024.
That state of limbo may have caused Radrizzani to hold back funds in transfer windows, it may have caused a mess when it’s come to managerial decisions and it’s no doubt caused an American influence to be set upon a squad that’s so far proven disastrous.
Jesse Marsch, Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson and Weston McKennie, as an overall quartet, have been terrible. Adams has done well enough at Leeds but his arrival is part of a bigger picture that’s had a detrimental effect on the squad.
Leeds need clarity so either the 49ers need to buy up or sell up.
