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Joe Mewis

Leeds United news as Paraag Marathe outlines priority in Elland Road development

Here are this morning's latest Leeds United headlines on Friday, May 20.

Marathe outlines Elland Road ambitions

Delegates from the San Francisco 49ers are in town for Sunday's season finale in what is one of the more important behind-the-scenes weeks of the season at Leeds United.

Vice-chairman Paraag Marathe is one of the contingent to have traveled over from California and he has been talking about his plans to expand Elland Road from the current 37,000 capacity up to one in excess of 50,000, citing how important it is to maintain the stadium's 'menacing' atmosphere.

"We want to expand the capacity of Elland Road and modernise the stadium, make the experience better for the supporters, but at the same time you don't want to make it a sterile ground," Marathe told The Times.

"There's something menacing about Elland Road [for visiting teams] and you don't want to take that away, because that's a competitive advantage.

"We certainly have the supporter base to be able to sell out grounds at 50,000-plus, which is what we are looking at."

Fans will be back in Elland Road for the first time in 14 months on Sunday when around 8,000 will be present to watch Marcelo Bielsa's men take on West Bromwich Albion.

Leeds add board member trio

Leeds United have added three new members to their Board of Directors.

Subject to Premier League clearance, Peter Lowy, Sandro Mencucci and Massimo Marinelli will be installed to the Leeds United Board.

The trio will join Andrea Radrizzani, new vice president Paraag Marathe and Angus Kinnear as the key decision-makers at the club.

Prior to his Leeds directorship, Lowy - an Australian businessman - held the position of CEO at Westfield Group and currently remains Principle of the Lowy Family Group private investment business.

Italian businessman Marinelli is CEO of Aser Ventures, part of Andrea Radrizzani's business network, and was instrumental in securing 49ers Enterprises' investment in Leeds United.

Read what the club has had to say about the appointments here.

Drameh success

Leeds United's U23 side had their end-of-season presentation at Elland Road on Wednesday evening, celebrating a stellar campaign.

The young Whites romped to the Premier League 2 Division 2 title with matches to spare, as well as going unbeaten at home throughout the entire campaign.

While the likes of Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood have taken the limelight this season for their attacking exploits, gallivanting right-back Cody Drameh has somewhat flown under the radar.

His progress could pay dividends in the near future - read why here.

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