“Additional challenges for 49ers Enterprises remain, even at this late stage. Not all of the investors behind its project are enthusiastic about buying an EFL side. The fund was put together on the basis of Leeds being a Premier League entity. A major call with the investment group took place this Thursday gone, with 49ers Enterprises still determined to bring a takeover to fruition in the worst-case scenario of relegation. But Radrizzani holds many of the cards, with the prerogative to stick to the price he wants or to plough on and try to get Leeds promoted again.
All the same, there is clear evidence of him looking for an exit plan. For a long time, he has had eyes on purchasing a team in Italy. Inter Milan are available to buy and Radrizzani has looked at their books, although the bank managing bids for Inter value the club at around £1billion and were not sure how he would fund that. In the past week, Radrizzani has openly declared his involvement in an attempt to acquire Sampdoria, a club who have bombed out of Serie A with horrible debts but, as a result, are more within his price range.
Radrizzani was videoed driving into Sampdoria’s training ground on Monday, indicating to local media that he was hopeful of completing a buy-out. On Thursday it emerged that Qatari Sports Investments (QSI) had involved itself in the process, offering to support a buy-out in Genoa. Radrizzani is close to QSI’s chairman, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and at points in the past, QSI was vaguely credited with an interest in acquiring shares at Elland Road, without ever doing so.
A takeover of Sampdoria appears to hinge on Radrizzani selling Leeds, though, and progress on that front might be the tipping point for him and 49ers Enterprises to resolve and close out their own discussions. Yesterday, Sampdoria issued a statement announcing that the bid Radrizzani is part of had secured exclusivity to complete a deal. There was no sign of him or any of 49ers Enterprises’ representatives at Elland Road today.”
