Sky Sports News have reported that Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani is still locked in advanced negotiations with 49ers Enterprises over a revised deal for the American investment fund to purchase the club, despite their relegation from the Premier League to the Championship.
The 49ers Enterprise, the owners of NFL team San Fransisco 49ers, already maintain a 44% share in the Yorkshire-based club and previously held the option to purchase majority ownership at Elland Road for a deal valued at a reported £420m. However, this price only applied if Leeds remained a Premier League side, consequently, since their relegation following a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, this offer no longer stands.
Despite this, the deal is still set to be completed, however, not for the original agreed price.
The 49ers are said to see the Whites as a long-term investment and are therefore keen to purchase the remaining 56% of shares from Radrizzani. Both parties are currently understood to be in advanced negotiations over the potential terms of a new deal, after the Italian businessman flew over to the US last week to begin to broker the deal, missing his side’s last home game of the season in the process.
Meanwhile, the 48-year-old who purchased Leeds for £45m in 2017 is exploring other business opportunities, with Get Italian Football News recently reporting he is set to partner up with investors Aser and Paris-Saint-Germain owners QSI to buy Italian club Sampdoria, who got relegated themselves from the Serie A this season. The deal, if completed, is expected to save the Genoa-based side from a potential bankruptcy and points deduction next season.
Travis Levison | Get Football
