The Athletic’s Phil Hay has delivered a worrying claim about Leeds United and the San Francisco 49ers.
What’s the story?
As revealed in recent days, 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.
Hay said: “This takeover isn’t going to happen as quickly as next month (unless something changes drastically) so any signings done in January would have to be done/funded within the existing 56-44 share split.
“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.”
Premier League safety is key
As Hay has suggested, relegation to the Championship is almost unthinkable when you consider the kind of consequences that could have not just in terms of being without Premier League football, but also the potential impact it could have on a potential takeover too.
The Whites only have to look to Tyneside and Newcastle and the looming spectre of relegation with which they’ve had to contend over these past couple of years before their takeover eventually went through.
If the 49ers do end up going through with a full takeover, that could spell exciting times at Leeds in terms of potential new signings and the ability to compete with teams far higher up in the table than they are right now.
Premier League safety will be absolutely paramount, though, and it’s exactly why Hay’s claim that “all bets are off if a club gets relegated from the EPL” might just worry fans, with the Whites still hovering a bit too close to the bottom three.
Meanwhile, Adam Pope has dropped an early morning Leeds United update…
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