President of 49ers Enterprises Paraag Marathe has featured on the latest edition of The Phil Hay Show to discuss all things Leeds United ahead of their final game of the 2020/21 season.
Leeds have secured a top-half finish in their first season back in the English top flight having been promoted from the Championship last season.
Will Leeds qualify for Europe in the next three years?
Yes
No
The Whites could realistically finish as high as eighth place come Sunday afternoon, however, it would take a number of results to go in their favour.
One topic of discussion on the podcast was the targets the Leeds hierarchy have set for the club in the coming years.
Discussing the matter, Marathe stated his ambition for the club to make it into European football within the coming seasons.
He said: “I think the goal wasn’t necessarily [about] where in the table we’ll finish, but the goal was to show that we can be competitive. And with Andrea’s [Radrizzani] vision and coach [Marcelo] Bielsa’s and Victor’s [Orta] leadership on the pitch, our mindset has shifted.
“And I don’t know if the supporters have seen it. But it certainly feels like even from the second half of our season relative to our first half, the mindset shifted. The way that we played those games against the top-table clubs, it changed. It was just a different mindset, I think.
“I’m excited about next season because I feel like we have a certain confidence now. And so to answer your question specifically, about five years from now, at that point, I hope we are competing for Europe and for [the] Champions League year in and year out.”
TIF Thoughts on Marathe’s comments…
There is no doubting just how impressive Leeds have been this season. To come up from the Championship and secure a top-half finish with a game still to go is certainly something they should be proud of.
However, next season will be an interesting one. Now teams are aware of what Leeds have to offer, it will be interesting to see if they can replicate their success from this season or even better it.
Boosted by the revenue Premier League status brings, will Leeds spend big this summer to develop their squad in the hope of pushing for Europe next season? Only time will tell.
In other news: ‘Oh nooo’, ‘Made of glass’ – Lots of Leeds fans flock to BBC man’s injury post