The Yorkshire Evening Post’s Graham Smyth has delivered an update on where things stand with Leeds United and the 49ers.
What’s the story?
During a Q&A with supporters, he revealed: “Undoubtedly, Victor Orta will have a number of lists for possibilities that may arise. I personally think he’ll be recruiting players for a third Premier League season.
“As for the ownership change, I think everyone is expecting the 49ers to make their move at some point. The summer might well be the right time to do it, right at the start of a new managerial tenure and heading into a third top flight season. We’ll see.”
Exciting times for Leeds fans
As revealed late last year, the investment arm of the 49ers have the ability to buy the Yorkshire club for more than £400m by January 2024, making a full takeover very much on the cards, with current Leeds chief Andrea Radrizzani previously saying: “Now we are partnered with 49ers, this is fundamentally very important because it will be very difficult to stay in the Premier League, but if we stay in it this year I think we can go much more than last year and go into the top six.
“Start to renovate the stadium and continue to grow the value of this club.”
Perhaps the biggest change over the past few weeks and months has of course been the turnaround in fortune for Leeds on the pitch, which of course has massive ramifications off it.
Indeed, in an article back in December, The Athletic’s Phil Hay had this to say amid what was then the very real prospect of relegation: “As for the Championship, that would change the club’s valuation, without a doubt. Leeds wouldn’t be worth £475m at that level. But all bets are off if a club gets relegated from the EPL. The ramifications can be huge.”
Since then, Jesse Marsch has come in and overseen a couple of very positive results, not least the 3-2 comeback victory over Wolves last week which has put the Whites in a very good position to preserve their Premier League status.
Keeping that top-flight identity makes Leeds a far more attractive and lucrative proposition for the 49ers, and this latest update from Smyth is sure to have supporters buzzing.
AND in other news: Phil Hay drops exciting Leeds United transfer update that’ll delight supporters
