According to Phil Hay, the EFL was not “very happy” with Leeds United this summer since they announced their takeover before it was fully approved.
The Athletic journalist stated on The Square Ball Saturday, September 9th, that the Whites didn’t come “a cropper” for issuing such a brief statement on June 9th, stating that an agreement had been reached between 49ers Enterprises and Andrea Radrizzani’s Aser Ventures, because the new rules now brought in against it were not yet in place.
Hay thinks it is “telling” that the EFL has adopted laws to prevent such a situation because it took the league until 17 July, more than a month later, to approve the sale to the club’s new owners.
He remarked (14m 45s): “I think the EFL’s new rules, which stipulate that you cannot announce a takeover in principle, are extremely telling.
“Leeds did it, and I don’t think the EFL were very happy about it. However, I don’t think Leeds came up short since the regulations weren’t fully in place at that time, but they are without a doubt in place now.
Knowledge vacuum
Leeds United is in a much safer position than they were a few months ago now that the 49ers have complete control of the club and all of the management and transfer market problems have been resolved.
There were extended stretches during the summer when fans were unaware of what the future held at Elland Road, despite the fact that Angus Kinnear has now come forward and spoken extensively with The Square Ball (7 September).
Even though Andrea Radrizzani is currently in Italy and responding to his former CEO on Twitter, there was a chance that his sale would be turned down and the club would experience even more turbulence than they did in the end.
Although it would have prevented the EFL from becoming the target of Leeds supporters’ resentment for five weeks, it is possible that the situation for the fanbase would have gotten worse had the new rules been in place prior to the agreement of the arrangement in principle.
It was a clear failure on the part of both the previous and new owners because there were no plans in place in case of relegation, which caused a lot of crucial actions to be postponed.
It was terrible enough that days went by after a comeback to the Championship was confirmed, less alone that weeks passed before a sale was made public.
The majority of Whites supporters will merely be relieved that the drama of the summer is now mostly over because they generally expect the EFL is unhappy with the club at the best of times, so Hay’s most recent report won’t come as a surprise to them.
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