Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani is keen to reward the club’s best players.
Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani has signed off on three important deals this week.
The biggest, met with adulation, was the new contract for star player Kalvin Phillips. [BBC]
The club announced yesterday that a double contract renewal had also been agreed for Stuart Dallas and club captain Liam Cooper.
All three players had some question marks over them before manager Marcelo Bielsa arrived.
They have each kicked on emphatically, and each deserve their new deals.
Phillips is worth millions, and his deal is partly about Leeds protecting their biggest asset.
Dallas and Cooper less so. In their case, it is a show that owner Andrea Radrizzani wants to reward the club’s key players for delivering on the pitch.
This is a trait Radrizzani has shown before, although there have been a couple of pitfalls along the way.
Early in the 2017 season he made the snap judgement to offer Conor Shaughnessy and Eunan O’Kane long term contracts after promising starts to the season.
Neither player were able to keep up the good form and lost their places in the team, both still under contract, they are not in Marcelo Bielsa’ plans.
Cooper and Dallas likely won’t suffer the same pitfalls. Both players have been delivering for Leeds on a consistent basis for the past three to four seasons. Leeds are just booking themselves in for more of the same.
Radrizzani’s willingness to offer new contracts can inspire players to lift their games at Leeds. Simply knowing they could be rewarded for their efforts fosters a positive atmosphere at the club, and inspires more success.
The Italian just needs to make sure he does not make any kneejerk decisions as he did before, particularly in Shaughnessy’s case.
The players in turn need to repay him, when they are given new deals, they must not rest on their laurels. The best way to pay Radrizzani back is to work even harder.
This was one criticism levelled at the players after the Autumn 2017 renewals, with Pontus Jansson and Luke Ayling also given new deals at the time.
Amid a subsequent team loss of form, it was suggested by some fans that players had got too comfortable.
Marcelo Bielsa won’t allow any let up, and Radrizzani will want to see a return on his investment too.
Phillips, Dallas and Cooper should all be desperate to pay the owner back, with promotion to the Premier League.
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