Andrea Radrizzani has completed a 50 per cent takeover of Leeds United.
Confirmation of Andrea Radrizzani’s investment in Leeds United has unsurprisingly been very warmly received amongst the Elland Road faithful.
The Whites confirmed on their official website that Radrizzani’s company had acquired a 50 per cent stake in the Championship side, and the Italian almost immediately endeared himself to supporters with a passionate statement where he essentially vowed to do as much as he could to take the club forward.
But it was arguably his comments on Garry Monk that are the most encouraging as the Peacocks look to capitalise on what has been a brilliant first few months under his management.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
“I am very impressed the job Garry Monk has done this season and I will do all I can to support him and the team moving forward,” he told the club’s official website.
“The responsibility is on myself, Massimo and the executive management at the Club to work together over the coming months to provide the best platform and environment for Garry and the team to achieve success.”
There have been numerous occasions where those acquiring a significant stake in a club have acted too hastily and removed the current manager to put their own man in charge, perhaps most famously when Massimo Cellino arrived at Leeds and swiftly – and temporarily, as it turns out – sacked Brian McDermott (via Mirror).
And with Monk not on a long-term contract (via Yorkshire Evening Post), it perhaps would not have been the most harmful decision financially in the short-term had Radrizzani decided to appoint a new man.
However, Radrizzani has undoubtedly made the smart decision in seemingly choosing to keep faith with Monk as he has easily done the best job of any manager to have been at Elland Road since Cellino arrived, and perhaps only has Simon Grayson as a rival when it comes to deciding their best boss since their relegation from the top flight in 2004.
Monk’s tenure has seen Leeds make perhaps more astute signings than they had done in all of the previous windows combined since Cellino’s arrival, and has seen the team go into the New Year as genuine play-off contenders, with an outside chance of perhaps pressing for a top two spot.
Radrizzani’s apparent decision to stick with Monk will surely give Leeds a greater chance of capitalising on their current position than if he had decided to rock the boat and appoint someone else, no matter how much money he gave the new man to spend during the rest of the January window.
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