Leeds United owner: 'We can challenge for a top-six finish'

By Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter | 02 November 2021

Leeds owner: 'We can challenge for a top-six finish'

Leeds United owner and chairman Andrea Radrizzani believes the club can challenge for a place in the Premier League's top six in the 2022-23 campaign.

The Whites are currently languishing in the bottom half of the table, one place and three points clear of the relegation zone after the first 10 games of this season.

Despite their underwhelming start, Radrizzani is confident that Marcelo Bielsa can steer Leeds to safety this term before aiming for Europe the following campaign, and believes the club's new partnership deal with the San Francisco 49ers – who now own 37% of the Yorkshire outfit – can help them achieve their long-term ambitions.

"Now we are partnered with 49ers, this is fundamentally very important because it will be very difficult to stay in the Premier League, but if we stay in it this year I think we can go much more than last year and go into the top six," Radrizzani said at the Web Summit event in Lisbon.

"Leeds United like Eleven and other business in my life are always a challenge. All my life I have been seen as an underdog, people didn't give me credit. It happened with Leeds United, people said 'it would crash, he has never done football before, he will lose money.'

"It was a good investment, a great bet and a good challenge. We always come with rationale, people think I am crazy but there is always a rationale because we know with the right people and the right management and a right plan, give the time to flourish the project we could achieve the right result."

The last time Leeds competed in a major European competition was back in 2002-03 when they were eliminated in the third round of the UEFA Cup by Malaga, losing 2-1 on aggregate.