By Kieran Maguire

17th Oct, 2023 | 12:18pm

Kieran Maguire: 49ers close to finalising Leeds United deal - 'it's approaching the end game'

The 49ers are ‘approaching the end game’ of a deal to buy Elland Road from former Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the latest set of accounts released from Elland Road.

The Elland Road Limited accounts released last Monday (9 October) revealed that former Whites owner Radrizzani is still the majority shareholder of the stadium.

As revealed by Football Insider, the 49ers are having to pay £1.7million in rent towards Radrizzani in order to use Elland Road as the club’s home stadium.

The accounts also reveal that the 49ers have begun the process of buying shares in the stadium from Radrizzani, but at the time of release, the Italian remained in majority control.

Maguire insists the 49ers will be ‘relaxed’ as they are aware that they will eventually take control of the stadium and its parent company.

“I’m not necessarily surprised that the 49ers have not yet taken majority control of Elland Road,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“I think it’s part of an ongoing process, it is nearly done and it is quickly approaching the end game.

“We’ve seen in the last couple of days that Radrizzani and his colleagues have been removed from the board of directors at Leeds United Football Club.

“So these things do take time and I’m sure that the 49ers Enterprises are very relaxed about the direction they’ve taken.

“They know that Radrizzani wants out and they want in.

“It’s just a case of tying up the loose ends.”

In other news, Three men quit Leeds United as documents emerge