Paraag Marathe officially became Leeds United chairman on Monday night and he hopes his extensive experience in American sports will stand him in good stead with dealings in English football
Agents will not have the tricks or dark arts capable of pulling a fast one on Paraag Marathe’s watch at Leeds United, the chairman believes. The American was finally given the official go-ahead by EFL to take the helm at Elland Road on Monday and he’s going to be hands-on.
Marathe likens his five years as a board member to being a passenger on an aeroplane with little say on the route it takes or the speed it goes at. That watching brief, coupled with his extensive experience of negotiations in the NFL, gives Marathe confidence he is not going to be taken advantage of in English football.
Contract negotiations, for example, have been done in his sleep, Marathe says. The Elland Road supremo is confident he will strike good deals for Leeds.
“I’ve seen it all and I’ve been through it all so I have a particular empathy for everybody’s job that is going to serve me well in this role,” he told the club’s podcast. “Just take the football negotiations piece for example.
“It took a long time to get approval, but, to our supporters at Leeds, just know this is my lifeblood, this is my wheelhouse, this is what I do, I’ve negotiated contracts in my sleep. The ball may be shaped differently and the game is different, but the agent game and the player game is very much the same and that’s where I made a name for myself in American sports.
“A lot of those same things I’m going to be able to apply. That’s what differentiates me from any other club’s chairman.”
