Andrea Radrizzani to Consider Selling Leeds Should Club Fail to Achieve Premier League Promotion
Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani will have to consider selling the club if they fail to win promotion this season, according to reports.
Radrizzani is a popular figure at Elland Road, having invested heavily into the club since taking charge in 2017.
However, the Italian will find it difficult to fund Leeds without the revenue of Premier League football next season and failure to go up this season may also lead to manager Marcelo Bielsa, who is contracted to the club until 2020 on a deal worth £3.4m per year, leaving the club.
Now, the Daily Mail claim that there is a break clause in his contract if the club doesn't win promotion. The report goes on to suggest that Radrizzani, who currently owns 86% of Leeds, is now 'all in' to ensure the Yorkshire club secure top-flight football for the first time since 2004.
The 44-year-old has endured a string of financial difficulties for his sports broadcasting company, Eleven Sports UK and as a result, he has decided that it's now or never to achieve his ambitions of reaching the Premier League.
Radrizzani purchased Leeds from the hugely unpopular and controversial Massimo Cellino two years ago, and went on to buy Elland Road in June 2017, making the stadium a property of Leeds United for the first time in 13 years.
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He has since invested over £30m, with notable signings including Real Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla in January. But this investment will not be able to continue if they do not receive the reported £200m windfall earned by gaining promotion this season.
Another season in the Championship may also lead to star players such as Kemar Roofe, Mateusz Klich and Kalvin Phillips being sold to raise funds, as well as exciting youth prospects such as Jack Clarke.
The Whites are having an outstanding season, with Bielsa (who earns treble the next highest-earning Championship manager) implementing an attractive, passing style of play on his young team, and they have been in the top two for most of the season.
But the race for promotion looks set to go the wire, with West Brom, Norwich City and Sheffield United all pushing hard in the race to gain automatic promotion.
