Doing a great job as Leeds United’s owner, Andrea Radrizzani is keen to expand his horizons with a new club, preferably in Italy.
The businessman has made bids for Serie A clubs in the past, but has never quite managed to secure an investment.
Now, the 46-year-old, who had a net worth of around $550m in 2018, has turned his attention to Serie C side Palermo Football Club.
Relegated to Serie D in 2019 after they failed to provide evidence of a valid insurance policy for the new Serie B season, the team made their way back up a level in their first campaign, where they currently sit middle of the table in Serie C/C.
Like most small clubs, they have suffered financially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is why their chairman, Dario Mirri, is open to finding new investors or simply selling the entire club.
Enter Leeds United’s Andrea Radrizzani.
Mediagol in Italy report the businessman met with Mirri in the centre of Milan last week, where they had a lengthy chat ranging ‘from the serious repercussions of the pandemic in the social, human and economic spheres’ to the ‘common passion for the world of football’.
They do, however, point out ‘there is currently no draft negotiation in progress’ between the two ‘regarding the acquisition of either part of or the entire share package of Palermo Calcio’, ‘but there was an exploratory chat’.
Discussing the ‘catchment area, potential and passion’ of the club, Radrizzani will have also been aware of the ‘infrastructural aspect, linked to the construction of the sports centre and possible new stadium’, which could ‘constitute a further element of appeal’.
Mediagol add that should ‘an entrepreneur of his ilk decide to invest in a professional club, he would certainly not do so to acquire a minority stake’.
However, ‘an initial partnership, perhaps taking over the shares of the outgoing board member Tony Di Piazza could represent a first preparatory step for a radical acquisition of the club’.
While Radrizzani’s ambitions could be of appeal to bigger clubs, perhaps some in Serie A, it’s said that ‘by virtue of friendship and more than cordial relations’ between the two, Mirri and the Leeds owner ‘could be updated later to verify whether or not the conditions exist to deepen the chat of recent days’.
At the meeting was also present Nicola Legrottaglie, a former Juventus player and currently unemployed coach, who is described as having a ‘since friendship’ with Radrizzani built on ‘mutual respect and maximum trust’.
An intriguing situation that needs to be monitored, as this seems like something that could really appeal to the Italian businessman.
After all, imagine being the man behind the resurgence of not one, but two sleeping football giants?
