The Italian investor has a contact at Villarreal, which pushed through the deal.
Garry Monk and assistant manager Josep Clotet (L)
Pep Clotet has revealed in the Spanish press how new Leeds United investor Andrea Radrizzani played a key role in the signature of Alfonso Pedraza last month.
Leeds concluded a deal to sign the Spanish talent on loan from Villarreal on transfer deadline day. He arrived with a good reputation from the Spanish youth teams and has the option to join on a permanent deal should Leeds earn promotion. The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that fee as being in the region of £8.5 million.
Leeds’ assistant manager Clotet has been speaking to Marca this week about the signing. He admitted the player has been on his and head coach Garry Monk’s radar for some time, but that it was Radrizzani’s links with the La Liga side that opened the door to a deal happening:
“When we were at Swansea, as we did not have resources there like other Premier League teams, we had to develop a good strategy to control the market, Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
“When we came to Leeds, we collected all the data, and there we were already aiming for Pedraza, he played in the under-19 and we analysed the games. We wanted a wide player on loan In summer, we mentioned him, but we brought Hadi Sacko.
“At Christmas, the new owner, Andrea Radrizzani, drew a relationship he had with Villarreal. And this name appeared. We knew that he had physical potential, level of improvement, we asked a lot on a personal level and everyone gave us very positive opinions.”
Leeds’ Alfonso Pedraza
It is already positive to see that the new investor has managed to push a deal through for Leeds United.
Pedraza has so far featured on two occasions for Leeds and unfortunately has been on the losing side on both occasions.
But the 20-year-old will be hoping to be on the winning side for Leeds in the near future.
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