Leeds United takeover latest: 49ers Enterprises ‘could move earlier’ amid summer ‘plan’

Leeds United fans continue to wait in hope of news on the reported takeover of the club.

Andrea Radrizzani has done a fine job at the helm of the club over recent years, offering much-needed stability after his turbulent predecessor, but Premier League clubs are only getting richer, and if the Whites want to keep up, they may well need a wealthier backer, if not now then in the very near future. Fortunately, there already seems to be a takeover plan in motion, but progress is slow, as it often is with such large takeovers.

In that vein, we have rounded up all the latest on the situation.

Current situation

As Leeds fans will already know, 49ers Enterprises now own more than 40% of the club - 44% to be exact - recently upping their investment.

It’s understood there were discussions about the 49ers completing their takeover at a future date when they last upped their investment, and some reports claim a price has already been agreed for Radrizzani’s shares.

For those who aren’t aware, 49ers Enterprises are the group behind NFL franchise, the San Francisco 49ers, and they are believed to be worth more than £4billlion, so a full Leeds takeover shouldn’t be any issue, and especially not if Radrizzani opts to keep some shares.

Summer ‘plan’

The majority of reports have claimed 49ers Enterprises are eyeing a summer takeover.

The concern with that for Leeds is the threat of relegation from the Premier League, and indeed the threat of the ownership group changing their mind, be it on the timing of a full takeover or the concept altogether. It has been reported that ‘intense talks’ have already been held, and a takeover could be worth around £475million.

CBS Sport journalist Ben Jacobs told GiveMeSport in early March: “49ers Enterprises are fully committed to Leeds and to a full takeover. It’s really just a case of when. Sources have always indicated that staying up or going down won’t necessarily alter the timescale, so there is still a very real possibility that will get done over the summer.

“But there are just so many moving parts at the moment that we’re going to have to wait and see how the season plays out before the picture becomes clearer.”

Fresh report

Since that last report, The Athletic’s Phil Hay has reported that the takeover could actually happen before the summer.

It’s reported that 49ers Enterprises have already agreed an option to buy the club before January 2024, and that option could be triggered this summer, or perhaps even sooner.

The season comes to an end in just over a month, and so it’s a tight timeline for a takeover to be completed by the end of the current campaign, but it will be interesting to see whether there is a significant development in the next six weeks or so as Leeds battle for survival. It would certainly be a clear show of confidence in the club if the new ownership group were to take control before knowing which division the Whites will be playing in next season.