A lack of trust might be one of the biggest issues Andrea Radrizzani faces moving forward at Leeds United now. That’s according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, following reports that the owner and chairman offered to use Leeds’ home stadium Elland Road as collateral in his bid to purchase Serie A club Sampdoria.
The Athletic, who broke the news this morning, claim a heads of terms agreement was signed by Radrizzani, which would see Elland Road used in order to secure a loan of £25.8m from Italian bank Banca Sistema. That money would then be put towards Radrizzani and Gestio Capital’s takeover of Sampdoria.
There are no filings at Companies House to suggest such a move went through, and, as reported by Leeds Live, board members Paraag Marathe and Angus Kinnear were previously unaware of such proposals before being approached for comment by The Athletic on Wednesday night. As 49ers Enterprises own 29 per cent of Elland Road Limited, the company which owns the stadium, by rights they should have been informed, while Kinnear is also registered as a director.
Read more: Blindsided Leeds United board floored as Radrizzani's Elland Road scheme broken to them last night
Speaking to Leeds Live, Maguire has moved to explain Radrizzani’s thinking and the potential knock-on effects of such actions.
“It would appear as though Andrea Radrizzani was in need of a bit of cash, just to finalise the Sampdoria deal,” Maguire said. “Clearly he owns Elland Road as a separate issue and it would appear as though he’s using the stadium in order to borrow and finalise the Sampdoria acquisition.
“It shouldn’t interfere if he’s also looking to sell the club to the 49ers investment company as what would happen is, let’s say he was looking for £150m in the Championship, what he would do is sell it for £120m and they take over the debt. That’s how it would effectively work.
“The big issue is that some people appear to have been in the dark and that’s not good for a working relationship. A decision should be made at board level and it shouldn’t be bypassed. The board do have legal responsibilities and if board members are being excluded from the decision making process, it doesn’t reflect well on the people that are making those decisions. That’s messy.
“With uncertainty in relation to the club ownership this adds another layer of complication to a process that has already been dragging on.
“Leeds fans have been through the wringer with owners who have messed around with Elland Road historically, as we all know.”
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