Leeds United

Leeds United: Fans react to Kieran Maguire’s comments about potential 49ers investment

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Image for Leeds United: Fans react to Kieran Maguire’s comments about potential 49ers investment

Leeds United fans have been reacting to claims surrounding their club and potential investment opportunities from their ownership group.

Leeds announced back in November that 49ers Enterprises, which owns a minority share in the club, had increased their ownership stake in the Elland Road outfit to 44% as they continue to improve and increase their footprint from their initial investment in 2018.

A more recent report in The Athletic claimed that they do have the option to take full control if they are willing to pay a fee in excess of £400 million by January 2024.

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And speaking in an interview with Football Insider, football finance expert Kieran Maguire claimed that if that does happen, despite the prospective majority owners being worth a reported $4bn (£3bn), he doesn’t see them going mad when it comes to spending if they were to aim for regular Champions League football.

He said: “It would be quite difficult for the 49ers [to] achieve that because it would take a realistic spend of £500m on players. Do they see their strategy working like that? I don’t think so. I think they will go down the Moneyball-style strategy. Everybody is doing that as well, though.”

These comments were relayed to Leeds United fans by the Leeds Insider Facebook page, where it generated a number of interesting responses:

Do you think that the 49ers will take over Leeds one day?

Yes, seems inevitable

Yes, seems inevitable

No, they won't

No, they won't

It should be something to keep an eye on moving forward to see whether or not they’ll be able to fund at the same rate as their ambitions, or if there might have to be some changes moving forward.

In other news: ‘Preferential for me’ – Journalist reveals ‘positive’ Bamford claim after injury update at Leeds

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Freelance sports journalist & broadcaster.