IZZANI INTERVIEW Andrea Radrizzani: New Qatar investor ‘can get Leeds up to level of Man City’
Andrea Radrizzani tells Martyn Ziegler that he is considering three offers for stake in club Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter October 14 2019, 12:01am, The Times Radrizzani insists that whatever happens at Leeds he wants to remain involved DANIEL HAMBURY/PA Share Save Leeds United celebrate 100 years of existence this week and at this pivotal moment their owner has revealed he is considering an offer from Qatar to take the club to a level where they could “compete with Manchester City”. The biggest sleeping giant in English football has already stirred. If Andrea Radrizzani, their owner, goes through with the sale of a stake in the club to Qatari Sports Investment (QSI) or two other rich investors then it could be time to write a new chapter in the giant’s fairytale. “I’m giving you more information than I ever gave to anyone,” says Radrizzani, over coffee in a Leeds hotel. The Italian says he views himself as a custodian of the club, and that bringing in a big investor would help to achieve his vision of taking Leeds to the very top of the beanstalk. Qatar looks to be in pole position — QSI is run by Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of Paris Saint-Germain, and a close friend from when Radrizzani’s previous firm, MP & Silva, was selling football TV rights and Khelaifi was buying them for beIN Sport. He will not reveal the identities of the other two under consideration, other than to say that one is a hugely wealthy Leeds fan based in the United States and the other the owner of an unidentified Italian club. “I have been approached by more than 20 parties and I have selected these three,” Radrizzani says. “The option of Qatar Sports Investment and Nasser — first of all they are friends, we have had a good relationship for a long time. Secondly, they have the possibility to bring this club to compete with Manchester City, so for the fans that could be a fantastic opportunity. “The second is based in America, he’s a big fan of Leeds United since he was a child, and I like that. “Another one is the owner of an Italian club. With another club you can create synergy to be more competitive and to target the Premier League — we could maybe get a loan to increase the quality of the team.” Radrizzani, who bought Leeds in instalments of £20 million in December 2016 and £25 million in May 2017, does not rule out selling a majority stake but insists that whatever happens he wants to remain involved. “The most important thing for me is to make this club big again,” he says. “When I will open the door to others I don’t know, hopefully when we are in the Premier League. The financial support would be more important in the Premier League. “When it will be done, it doesn’t matter which share [I have], it matters that I can continue my project and also have the support to build this club back again. Radrizzani said Bielsa’s rigorous methods were just what were needed to sort Leeds out ARRON GENT/JMP/REX “L’appetito vien mangiando, as we say in Italy — appetite comes while you are eating. I don’t need to sell but it is important to listen because I always remember I am a custodian of the club. If it was my own business I would treat it a bit differently.” Many figures from Leeds’s past, including from the glory days of the 1970s, will be invited back to Elland Road to celebrate the centenary on Saturday, when Birmingham City visit. Talk of the 1970s prompts Radrizzani to say “Dirty Leeds!” before adding: “We try to clean up the image of the club and I think that’s the right approach for the next generation. At the same time we need to keep the graft and passion of that team.” There have been mighty changes at Leeds in the 2½ years since he took full control. He bought the stadium back in 2017, 13 years after it had been sold to reduce debt, and the next step is a new training base and academy, a stone’s throw from Elland Road. In 2017, there were only two academy players playing for national teams at youth level; now there are 14. Appointing Marcelo Bielsa, the talismanic Argentine manager — and persuading him to stay after promotion proved elusive — was also a declaration of intent. Radrizzani is open about the financial implications, saying: “It is very expensive, I invested over £90 million — with this level of money you could own a Europa League club in most of the European leagues, including Italy. “The club makes losses, in this league it is impossible not to. We are still paying the consequences of my first year because I was inexperienced and we made some expensive mistakes with players. “But we haven’t stopped investing. Bielsa and his staff cost £6 million [a year], we bought many other players and I think we have a squad to be promoted. It’s financially not sustainable to keep this level of salary which is now over £30 million, probably £33 million with Marcelo and closer to £40 million with the coaches.” To get Bielsa, 64, was a coup — he is vastly experienced, including lengthy spells in charge of the Argentina and Chile national teams. His rigorous coaching methods, says Radrizzani, were just what were needed to sort Leeds out. After starting the season unbeaten in seven matches, Leeds wobbled going into the international break with defeats away to Millwall and Charlton Athletic on successive Saturdays, but they remain just two points off top spot. “We needed to set a culture of work ethic, when I arrived we were living in mediocrity,” Radrizzani added. “Finding a man like him [Bielsa], who some people might say is fixed in the methodology of 20 years ago, was needed. He was fascinated by the challenge, as I was.” Radrizzani has been a fierce critic of the Football League for allowing owners of other Championship clubs to buy their own stadiums via another company to get past financial fair play [FFP] rules, and he reveals that he was approached by Middlesbrough to take part in their legal action against the league on the issue. “The rules were not written in a way to avoid a conflict of interest and to shortcut FFP — 100 per cent it should change, it needs to be clear for the future,” he says. “Middlesbrough approached us to sue about the other clubs. In principle I agreed with them but decided not to do it because I wanted to focus on the football.” Instead, it was Leeds who found themselves in breach of rules last season over the Spygate scandal, which led to a £200,000 fine after Bielsa sent an employee to watch Derby County training. That is now in the past, says Radrizzani, and has brought Leeds closer together. “We have a lot of haters, and that was a great occasion to come against us. It made us stronger and we are very proud to have haters.” As to Leeds being a sleeping giant, Radrizzani says the slumber is over: “He’s awake. Now he has to make more noise.” Sent from my iPhone > On 14 Oct 2019, at 16:13, Tim Leslie <[email protected]> wrote: > > Just followed a tweet about a Times interview with AR claiming he has three > offers on the table for a stake in the club, including a (The originally > muted?) Qatar one that "Could transform us into the next Man City" - It's a > subscription service (Which I don't have) Anyone read it? Got a copy? > > Ta > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email [email protected] > > Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ > > RIP Jimmy WAC-COE _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ RIP Jimmy WAC-COE
