Being the change
Fans are left with the same guesswork about when Radrizzani will think his limits are reached and what will happen next. In the meantime, United’s Premier League status is being left to fate, since the board wrested control of it from God.
A point in favour of Andrea Radrizzani, chairman and majority owner of Leeds United as well as loads of other things he wants bigging up (next time, he told Marcus Luer of The Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast, ‘ask me about my new businesses in tech and financing’) is consistency. His message, since buying Leeds United in 2017, has stayed pretty much the same.
“I am giving a maximum of five years to be in the Premier League,” Radrizzani said during his first summer after taking over from Massimo Cellino. “If I try and I am not able then it is probably best for someone else to try, maybe with more resources than me.”
Speaking to The Athletic this summer, he said he believed he could achieve European football with Leeds, but knew breaking consistently into the Premier League top six would be beyond him. “I’m happy. I dream to bring this club to play in Europe and then I’m happy to leave — so still some work to do here.”
Now, speaking to Andrea Rinaldi of Corriere della Sera in Italy, he’s on the same theme again. He can go so far, but no more than that.
“Yes, maybe Leeds can grow further,” Radrizzani said, “but in the future they will need more resources to be able to reach higher levels and compete with the best clubs in the Premier League, so I believe that, because of the history of the club and the respect I have for their fans, it is right to let those who can invest more than me go ahead and take it to the glory of the past. There is also a planning aspect: this is my sixth year, change is healthy.”
The question of ‘now’ is a thorny one, since Jesse Marsch was asked about these comments in the press conference after the defeat to Manchester City. “He [Radrizzani] told me that that interview was done a couple of months ago, and that was just recently released and it becomes a talking point,” said Marsch. The interview for The Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast, that was linked to from Leeds United’s official Twitter account three days before Christmas, was recorded some time ago and released on November 25th. The interview with Corriere della Sera — the one that has provided the ‘talking point’ — was published on Boxing Day, and ended with a question about the World Cup that ran from 20th November to 18th December — ‘You have just returned from the World Cup in Qatar where you were present with your company Hellodi in stadium advertising. How did it go?’ — suggesting this interview was conducted much more recently than ‘a couple of months ago’. (For the record, Radrizzani answered that he was impressed by the freshly built modern city he saw in Doha; “Unfortunately, the European media had a negative campaign about this World Cup,” he said. When pressed on the deaths of migrant workers who built the city, Radrizzani said, “The problem exists and it is huge. It is an evil that exists, and not only in Qatar, and it must be fought.”)
The detail of which interview Marsch thinks was a couple of months ago and when these conversations were actually had can be set aside, as the larger themes were the same as usual, especially when it comes to Leeds United. Radrizzani is proud of his work at Leeds, but recognises he has limits. We knew all that. The change from 2017 is that, this time, his dream is not going to come true. Back then he gave himself five years to achieve promotion and that focus helped Leeds do it in three. Now, unless Jesse Marsch can pull something remarkable from the second half of this season, either with or without investment in transfers in January, Radrizzani will not achieve European football at Leeds before the date he gave for his exit. “We [Aser Ventures, Radrizzani’s investment vehicle] are happy with Leeds,” he told Corriere della Sera, “but we are evaluating other investments and the potential exit will be in 2024 together with the San Francisco 49ers.”
I’m often intrigued by this aspect of Radrizzani’s character. His passions and tempers often get the better of him. Either in his antagonism on Twitter or by letting his son design United’s third kit, he allows his enthusiasm to veer into amateurism. But he is still able to let business snip his dreams. Promotion with Leeds, he has said, was the proudest moment of his career, a day when he didn’t think of business at all, only happiness for himself and the fans. But he would not have waited more than five years for it, because it would have cost too much. The dream of European football now looks beyond him, so he’s willing to miss out on the pleasure it might bring, and move on. Radrizzani is like Icarus, crafting his fine gravity-defying wings, feeling the heat of the distant sun and thinking, actually, I don’t think I’ll risk it.
As such there’s nothing really new in the Corriere della Sera interview except a gradual definition around dates, 2024 being the significant year, as it has been since The Athletic reported that 49ers Enterprises have an agreement to buy full control of Leeds by January that year. Radrizzani pushed back at this, and always seems to imply that January 2024 is when exit discussions begin. “They have as you know an option to go majority in 2024,” he told The Athletic this summer, “so maybe before, or that moment or after, something will be discussed. In this moment we are super-happy and everything is stable and balanced.” Either way, when people wonder why 49ers Enterprises haven’t pushed for the extra few per cent that would give them 51% control, this might be why — everybody’s mind has been on 2024 for a long time now. The price and the date and the process have been agreed since 2021, meaning inertia should anyone want to try changing those terms. It’s easier to stick to the plan, right? In the meantime, United’s Premier League status is being left to fate, since the board wrested control of it from God.
One new note is about Radrizzani’s relationship with 49ers Enterprises after Leeds, and it’s actually an old note, that was previously buried in this summer’s interview with The Athletic. “We are very good friends with the Niners,” he said, “They are a solid partner. They let me work in peace, and they’re supportive, so we have become honestly very good friends. We are in touch continuously. I think even in the going in Leeds, or even with other clubs in Europe, we will do probably together.”
That hint of working with the Niners again after Leeds is echoed in Boxing Day’s Corriere della Sera interview, when Radrizzani talks about failing with an offer, some time ago, to buy Serie A side Salernitana.