Andrea Radrizzani has put his money where his mouth is and backed Leeds United to stay in the Premier League in this transfer window.
That’s the view of chief executive Angus Kinnear who drew a line under United’s first window since returning to the Premier League yesterday.
The four major additions came in the form of Rodrigo, Robin Koch, Diego Llorente and Raphinha, but do not overlook the early returns of Helder Costa, Illan Meslier and Jack Harrison too.
After making a nine-figure investment across first team and academy, Kinnear thinks it’s clear Radrizzani has done what he can for the Whites to assert themselves in the top division.
“We have reinforced Andrea’s prepared to invest seriously in our Premier League status and we’re not just here to make up the numbers,” he said.
Kinnear said the club was very happy with the window as a whole, especially with the way director of football Victor Orta and head coach Marcelo Bielsa were able to work together on targets.
“We are delighted with the window,” he said. “Victor and Marcelo have worked really well in aligning on players Victor has identified through his network and met Marcelo’s exacting standards.”
The message in the early stages of the window underlined a focus on taking the best of the Championship’s talent off its hands, but, as now know, opportunities arose and the strategy did not play out that way.
Anyone who reads Kinnear’s matchday programme notes will know he is not afraid of speaking his mind or delivering the odd quip.
“Our strategy of going for the cream of the Championship has been delivered perfectly,” he said.
