There’s no denying the acquisition of Leeds United by Andrea Radrizzani has been key to the team’s return to top flight football.
The Italian owner has put a lot of money into the club, made the right decisions when needed and continued to work hard to bring the club back to its former glory, with the Eland Road side now firmly back in the elite, currently managed by Jesse Marsch.
Another part of that boardroom has been Sandro Mencucci, who is now splitting his time between Leeds (he’s still on the Premier League club’s website in the ownership section) and Lecce in Italy, where he is the current CEO after a recent takeover.
They currently sit 16th in Serie A after nine games, two points above the relegation zone, and are set to face Fiorentina on Monday night, who are just two points ahead of them.
It will be a special moment for Mencucci, who prior to working for Leeds, spent 13 years of his life working for La Viola as their CEO, and was inducted in their Hall of Fame back in 2017.
He’s now hoping to replicate some of that success at Lecce, just like he helped at Elland Road, and one of the first personal objectives will be to beat Fiorentina, who are somewhat underperforming by their standards, having to juggle the league and Serie A.
There appears to have been talk of fatigue in Florence ahead of the clash, but Mencucci was having none of that about his former side when interviewed about it by Corriere Fiorentino, relayed by Viola News.
He said: “I worked for Leeds for three years and I have never heard anyone complain of fatigue. These alibis are all Italian and perhaps it would be time to make a leap in quality.”
Everyone knows the rigours of the Championship and their 46 game seasons, with cups on top of that, which is what Mencucci is clearly referring to here.
Leeds managed to get promoted under Marcelo Bielsa, known for high intensity football, and it seems the new Lecce CEO doesn’t want to hear any excuses ahead of his team’s game against Fiorentina, with the hope of a home fixture being enough to overcome and overtake his former side.
