[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…In an exchange on Twitter, Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has given his response to a fan demanding Champions League football at Elland Road within two years.
What’s he said?
Radrizzani took over from Massimo Cellino in 2017 and has since lifted Leeds from their mediocre placings in the Championship.
His finance and Marcelo Bielsa’s managerial experience saw them reach the playoffs last season while they now sit top of the league following a win over Barnsley at Oakwell on Sunday.
Whether or not they achieve Premier League status next campaign remains to be seen but they are certainly in the best possible place to do so at the moment.
The Italian businessman has since been brought up on the club’s Champions League hopes. Television channel Eleven Sports posted a video of a bus carrying supporters donning the shirts of teams currently in Europe’s premier competition.
A fan then said they expected a Leeds shirt to be on it in two years. Radrizzani’s response was as follows:
Work to do
The plan for Leeds at the moment is a five year one, that’s according to the owner himself who instilled that in the club when he first walked through the doors.
Now in 2019, Leeds are two years into that and are slowly progressing back to the promised land of the Premier League.
Before they can even qualify for the Champions League they obviously need to go up but if indeed they do enter the biggest tournament in Europe in three years, that will be just as this supposed plan ends.
Earlier this year, Radrizzani told The Times: “My work is limited in the Championship, but I have access to international partners and commercial opportunities that could transform the club if we are promoted.”
Leeds have played among Europe’s elite before so it’s certainly not out of the question that they could re-enter it at some point in their history.
Saying that, even if Radrizzani’s tweet was a comical response, three years is surely a stretch too far and other things must be at the height of their agenda first.
His comments to The Times certainly give weight to the fact it may be on the cards in the future but it’s a huge challenge that presents itself.
