Leeds United Q&A: Former owner Andrea Radrizzani on difficult exit and why he believes club can get into Europe

Former Leeds United owner and chairman Andrea Radrizzani discusses his difficult exit from the club, and why he believes the current owners can take Leeds back into Europe…

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News senior reporter Tim Thornton in Milan, Radrizzani, who sold his controlling stake in the club in 2023 to 49ers Enterprises, also explains why the redevelopment of Elland Road is key to the future, and how Leeds United will always have a special place in his heart.

Andrea, two years on from your departure from Leeds United, how pleased are you to see them back in the Premier League?

I’m very happy. As a fan of Leeds, as an ex-chairman, I’m very, very glad for the fans that they are finally back where they belong, the Premier League. It is a big release for me because, honestly, I had a very traumatic and difficult exit and finally I feel now that destiny adjusted everything and I can come back to Leeds soon.

You mentioned a difficult and traumatic exit but, on the whole, there was a lot of positive change during your time at Leeds.

Yeah, I mean, personally I feel I’ve done six years in Leeds, of which five years and a half, went very well. I turned around a club that was in a, I wouldn’t say a disaster, but it was not hoping for an ambitious time in the Premier League.

It was mid-table in the Championship and we had done a great job taking back, particularly with the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa and the players. We had done a great job to achieve the Premier League, to maintain the category for three seasons and also outside of the pitch, I think we renovated the stadium, we re-engaged the city and the community with the club, so we have done a lot of good stuff.

But, unfortunately, the last six months, I think for different reasons, I lost the day-to-day activity with the club, I lost the control of the club. Also, for other personal reasons, I relocated to Milan and all this, as a consequence, took the club back to the Championship and it was a very traumatic and difficult period of my life, professionally and also personally, so I’m very glad now things came back to where they should be.

Do you still speak to Paraag Marathe and the ownership group?

I speak to him normally a couple of times every month and we stay in touch during the season, we comment about Leeds, we comment about other football trends, but particularly about Leeds and we just spoke recently this week when he was in Leeds. But he was also busy in Rangers looking for new opportunities, so I’m in touch with them very often.

How difficult will it be for Leeds – that jump from the Championship back to the Premier League – because you’ve done it and with success in that first season under Marcelo Bielsa when Leeds finished ninth?

Yeah, you see the gap between the Premier League clubs and the newly-promoted clubs is getting bigger and bigger, in the last two seasons, basically, all the clubs promoted bounced back to the Championship. So this shows that the category is another level, it requires investment, it requires a new project, it requires a football transition. In some cases a revolution in the squad, and sometimes when you do the right recruitment it can work very well, other times not.

In the transition with Bielsa to Jesse Marsch, we changed, I remember we sold two players, we bought seven and unfortunately the recruitment was not successful for us to maintain the category. Same as when you come from the Championship to the Premier League, the challenge is very big.

So, the recruitment you feel is key to making that transition successful?

Absolutely, yes, and in our case I think the mistake I probably have done and we had done with the management is that we didn’t hire enough players with maturity and experience in the Premier League, but we bet on players with high quality but no experience in the Premier League.

So, we brought in a lot of players from Austria or Germany or other countries with absolutely zero minutes in English football and that I think it is a big gap.

What would success look like for Leeds United back in the Premier League? Is it about long-term stability and now trying to stay up for the first year?

Look, I think it was always the plan, the plan has been interrupted by a couple of years unfortunately.

But the plan was to build the club, take it back to the Premier League, build it and leave it to strong ownership and good management to take it to the next level. I think Paraag and the guys involved supporting him and the new management and the management that will come will have the credibility and the experience, and the know-how to take it to the next level.

So, I think they have the resources, they have the capacity and the know-how to take the club where it deserves. The new stadium will help; it was already planned before. I think the project is still the same, as discussed for four or five years together with Paraag and the group because we were already partners.

It has been unfortunately delayed for a couple of years, and I pay the consequences of this delay, but now they can take back the route and the direction to bring back Leeds as a medium top club, I hope a top club and back to Europe one day. I was actually wishing Paraag that this week, saying that now his goal should be to take back Leeds in Europe because that’s the possibility he has.

Is that realistic?

Not immediately, but why not? I think Leeds needs to dream of the old times and the new ownership can do that, can deliver I’m sure. I know them very well and they will do a gradual growth, and they will do the right choice to take back Leeds in that place.

And you’ve touched on it already, but the redevelopment of the stadium, you were heavily involved in the early stages of this, how key is that?

Important, because it brings in new revenue, new opportunity, it modernises the club, it gives a big boost. I remember when we were in the Premier League two years ago, we had three-and-a-half times requests for tickets than the capacity of Elland Road, so it won’t be an issue to fill Elland Road every game, it’s not an issue at all.

Do you miss the special atmosphere at Elland Road?

Yeah, look, I have goosebumps only thinking about that.

It was an amazing period of my life, I did some mistakes at the end, but I always try to be genuine in my management and of course for me it was a business as well, a project.

But I became a Leeds fan, my family, my brother, my nephew, my son also supports Leeds. They don’t have a team in Italy, they suffer every weekend when Leeds play and we can’t wait to go back to the stadium. So this is in our blood now and we keep going with that.

Raphinha, one of the players that you signed, is hugely successful again this season and in the Champions League semi-final. How pleased are you to see him doing so well?

It’s a huge pride that the club has the opportunity to have a player like Raphinha.

I think Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds contributed to his success, because playing in the Premier League definitely helped him, but a big credit to him.

But I think also in terms of leadership, I’ve seen him growing dramatically, he’s helping team-mates, he’s a leader on the pitch, he became the captain of Barcelona, so this, I think, means a lot for his personal growth as well.

What is clear is that you have a great passion for football, so could we see you back in the game at some point?

We’ll see. When I terminated Leeds, I had the instinctive reaction that I wanted to help Sampdoria, that it was in difficulty and I saved the club from bankruptcy. But after a few months I realised that mentally I was not in a good space to take a big commitment as football requires, because football is not a typical business, it’s a social business in a way that you have a huge impact with the people, with the community, so you need to take it seriously and be present.

And when I realised that I was mentally ready to do that, I called myself out, so now I’m taking a break, but I’m getting better, I’m in good shape now, I’m getting strong again and I will look at some opportunities. Maybe soon, let’s see.

And do you look forward to watching Leeds back in the Premier League?

Yes, definitely, it’s in my heart, and it will be difficult for me to look at another club in England. But I’m a big supporter and I can’t wait to be back at the stadium.

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