Former Leeds United owner and chairman Andrea Radrizzani discusses his difficult exit of the club and why he believes that current owners can bring leeds back to Europe …
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports Senior Reporter Tim Thornton in Milan, Radrizzani, who sold his controlling interest in the club in 2023 to 49ers, also explains why the redevelopment of Elland Road is the key to the future, and how Leeds United will always have a special place in his heart.
Andrea, two years after your departure from Leeds United, how happy are you to see them again in the Premier League?
I am very happy. As a fan of Leeds, as former chairman, I am very, very happy for the fans that they are finally back where they belong, the Premier League. It is a big release for me because I honestly had a very traumatic and difficult exit and in the end I now feel that fate has adjusted everything and I can quickly come back to Leeds.
You mentioned a difficult and traumatic exit, but in general there was a lot of positive change during your time at Leeds.
Yes, I mean, personally I have the feeling that I have done for six years in Leeds, of which five years and half a year went very well. I turned a club that was in A, I wouldn't say a disaster, but it didn't hope for an ambitious time in the Premier League.
It was halfway the table in the championship and we had done great to take back, especially with the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa and the players. We had done an excellent job to reach the Premier League, to maintain the category for three seasons and also outside the field, I think we have renovated the stadium, we have registered the city and the community with the club, so we did many good things.
But unfortunately, the last six months, I think I lost the daily activity with the club for various reasons, I lost control of the club. I also moved to Milan for other personal reasons and I therefore took the club back to the championship and it was a very traumatic and difficult period of my life, professional and also personally, so I am now very happy that things now come back to where they should be.
Do you still speak with Paraag Marathe and the ownership group?
I normally speak to him a few times a month and we keep contacting during the season, we comment on Leeds, we comment on other football trends, but especially about Leeds and we recently spoke this week when he was in Leeds. But he was also busy in Rangers looking for new opportunities, so I often have contact with them in contact.
How difficult will it be for Leeds – that jump from the championship back to the Premier League – because you did it and successfully ended in that first season under Marcelo Bielsa when Leeds finished ninth?
Yes, you can see that the gap between the Premier League clubs and the newly promoted clubs is getting bigger and bigger, in the last two seasons, actually, all clubs promoted back to the championship. So this shows that the category is a different level, it requires investment, it requires a new project, it requires a football transition. In some cases a revolution in the team, and sometimes if you do the right recruitment, it can work very well, others not.
In the transition with Bielsa to Jesse Marsch, we have changed, I remember that we have sold two players, we bought seven and unfortunately the recruitment was not successful for us to maintain the category. The same as when you come from the championship to the Premier League, the challenge is very great.
So, the recruitment that you think is the key to making that transition successful?
Absolutely, yes, and in our case I think that the mistake I probably did and that we had done with the management is that we have not hired enough players with maturity and experience in the Premier League, but we bet on high -quality players but no experience in the Premier League.
So we have brought many 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 in the Premier League? Is it about long -term stability and is it now trying to stay up for the first year?
Look, I think it was always the plan, the plan was unfortunately interrupted for a few years.
But the plan was to build the club, bring it back to the Premier League, to build and leave it to strong ownership and good management to bring it to the next level. I think that Paraag and the boys involved in supporting him and the new management and management that will come, will have the credibility and experience, and the know -how to lift 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. I think the project is still the same, such as four or five years together with Paraag and the group discussed because we were already partners.
Unfortunately it has been delayed for a few years and I pay the consequences of this delay, but now they can take back the route and the direction to bring backs back as a medium -sized top club, I hope a top club and one day back to Europe. I wish that Paraag that this week said that now should be his goal to take backs back in Europe, because that is the possibility he has.
Is that realistic?
Not immediately, but why not? I think Leeds should dream of the old times and the new property can certainly do that. I know them very well and they will make gradual growth, and they will make the right choice to take backs in that place.
And you have already touched it, but the redevelopment of the stadium was heavily involved in the early stadiums of this, how important is that?
Important, because it yields new income, new opportunities, it modernizes the club, gives it a big boost. I remember that when we were in the Premier League two years ago, we had requests for tickets three and a half times than the capacity of Elland Road, so it will be no problem to fill Elland Road every game, it's no problem at all.
Do you miss the special atmosphere on Elland Road?
Yes, look, I only have goosebumps to think about that.
It was a great period of my life, I made some mistakes at the end, but I always try to really be in my management and of course it was also a company, a project.
But I became a fan of Leeds, my family, my brother, my cousin, my son also supports Leeds. They don't have a team in Italy, they suffer every weekend when Leeds plays and we can't wait to go back to the stadium. So this is now in our blood and we will continue to do so.
Raphinha, one of the players you have signed, is again enormously successful this season and in the semi -final of the Champions League. How happy are you to see him do so well?
It is a huge pride that the club has the chance to have a player like Raphinha.
I think Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds have contributed to his success, because playing in the Premier League certainly helped him, but a great honor to him.
But I think that I also see him grow dramatically in terms of leadership, he helps teammates, he is a leader on the field, he became the captain of Barcelona, ​​so this, I think, also means a lot for his personal growth.
What is clear is that you have a great passion for football, so can we see you again in the game at some point?
We will see. When I ended Leeds, I had the instinctive response that I wanted to help Sampdoria, that it was in trouble and I saved the club of bankruptcy. But after a few months, I realized that I was not mentally in a good space to enter into a big commitment if football requires, because football is not a typical company, it is a social company in a way that you have a huge impact with the people, with the community, so you have to take it seriously and be present.
And when I realized that I was mentally ready to do that, I cried myself, so now I take a break, but I am getting better, I am now in good shape, I will be strong again and I will look at some opportunities. Maybe soon, let's take a look.
And are you looking forward to looking back in the Premier League?
Yes, certainly, it is in my heart, and it will be difficult for me to watch another club in England. But I am a big supporter and I can't wait to be back in the stadium.