Newcastle United’s takeover has been covered across the European media in recent days, with the Magpies being snapped up by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
There’s been many questions asked about the takeover, and whether the PIF should have been able to buy Newcastle United, given their clear connection with the Saudi state.
Rules in England over club takeovers have also been questioned more generally, but Massimo Cellino, who owned Leeds United before Andrea Radrizzani, believes the regulations are pretty tough compared to what happens in Italy.
Inter Milan has been the big story in Serie A finances in recent months, with the club winning the league but going through tough economic challenges. That saw player sales, however, Cellino doesn’t believe balancing the books after the event is the right way forward.
Now Brescia owner, the former Leeds United man has been speaking to a TV station local to the club, and is quoted by CalcioWeb as saying: “When I returned from England I found football totally changed, devastated. In England, before letting me buy Leeds they made me go through a sort of interrogation. They wanted to know everything.
“Here, however, people arrive who buy a club, but in reality it is not known with certainty who owns it. And if football doesn’t go back to being fair and transparent, it will continue to attract dubious characters. For my part, I pay regular salaries and taxes. When I arrived here, I found a heavy financial situation. Now there is a healthy club that must be able to move forward independently.”
Leeds United fans probably won’t be too impressed with Cellino’s insistence he runs his clubs the right way.
