Board members Paraag Marathe and Angus Kinnear were left dumbfounded when news reached them of Andrea Radrizzani’s Elland Road proposal on Wednesday night. The Italian’s indication he would secure a loan to buy Sampdoria against Leeds United’s stadium blindsided everyone at the club.
There are no filings at Companies House to suggest the proposal to Banca Sistema went through and United sources are confident the ground is currently safe from any such risk. However, there was widespread shock on Wednesday night when the news was broken to the club’s top brass.
When The Athletic, which broke the story this morning, went to United with the allegations, it was the first Marathe and Kinnear had heard of it. They did not believe it was possible for Radrizzani to make such a proposal without their knowledge.
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Elland Road Limited, the company which owns the ground, has shares split between Radrizzani (71 per cent) and 49ers Enterprises (29 per cent). Yet, the Whites chairman saw fit to name the ground as collateral in an initial proposal to raise funds for his Sampdoria purchase.
The Athletic claims the Italian signed documents which show the ground was put forward as collateral for a £26m loan. United’s majority shareholder has devoted the past few weeks to taking over Sampdoria, alongside Gestio Capital, and finally broke through with those talks on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, talks with 49ers Enterprises, the minority shareholder at Leeds which wants to take Radrizzani’s 56 per cent, have been ongoing. A statement released by Radrizzani last night, his first since Sunday’s relegation, created more questions than answers, but suggested he would continue as majority shareholder.
Now, this new report has shrouded his ownership with fresh controversy. While there is confidence the proposal to use the ground as collateral has not gone through, the fact Radrizzani would even consider using such a historic asset in this way will anger United fans en masse.
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