Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani has reached an agreement to sell his stake in the club to 49ers Enterprises, the second-tier English side said Friday.
49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, has been a shareholder at Leeds, recently relegated from the Premier League, since its initial investment in May 2018.
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Over the past few years, its stake increased to 44%, while Radrizzani’s Aser Ventures owned the remaining 56%. Leeds said that a purchase has now been agreed.
“Both parties continue to work through the details, and further updates will be provided soon,” they said in a statement.
Earlier this season, Radrizzani and partner Matteo Manfredi made a purchase of the relegated Serie A club Sampdoria.
Leeds were relegated from England’s top tier after a roller-coaster season under four different managers. They finished second from bottom in the standings on 31 points and will now compete in the EFL Championship next season.
“All of our focus remains on a quick return to the Premier League,” the statement added.
This season’s Champions League final, the first competitive meeting between treble-chasing Manchester City and underdogs Inter Milan, is finally here. Get ready for Saturday’s match with theScore’s comprehensive preview package.
The lowdown ?
Who: Manchester City vs. Inter Milan What: 68th European Cup final When: Saturday, June 10 at 3:00 p.m. ET Where: Ataturk Olympic Stadium (Istanbul, Turkey) Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland) VAR: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)
Manchester City: -220 Draw: +340 Inter Milan: +550
The latest news ?
Analysis ?
Lexy Ilsley – Manchester City / Manchester City FC / Getty
Tactics, key questions, and a prediction in our in-depth preview.
“The fundamentals of Manchester City’s approach haven’t changed. This season, they still led the Premier League in the usual metrics – such as possession and time in the opponents’ half – and remained bottom in statistics such as frequency of long passes and speed of attacks. Continuity is what makes this version of City most different from others during the Pep Guardiola era. There are fewer question marks about what the Spaniard will do for the big matches: Overthinking – a lazy media critique that leaned on the few instances a novel approach went wrong and disregarded the many times a Guardiola tweak paid off – has been increasingly unlikely as the season progressed.” Read more.
Further reading ?
Dive into some of the storylines surrounding the contest.
Injury updates ?
The latest on the lingering lineup questions.
PLAYER
INJURY
STATUS
Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Back
Expected to be fit
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Inter)
Thigh
Expected to be fit
Joaquin Correa (Inter)
Calf
Expected to be fit
Milan Skriniar (Inter)
Back
Doubtful to play
Predicted lineups ?
Manchester City (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake; John Stones, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland
Inter Milan (3-5-2): Andre Onana; Matteo Darmian, Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Federico Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko
The kit matchup ?
Path to the final ?
Reviewing how both teams got to Istanbul.
Manchester City
Group stage: First place in Group G Round of 16: Beat RB Leipzig (8-1 on aggregate) Quarterfinals: Beat Bayern Munich (4-1 on aggregate) Semifinals: Beat Real Madrid (5-1 on aggregate)
Inter Milan
Group stage: Second place in Group C Round of 16: Beat Porto (1-0 on aggregate) Quarterfinals: Beat Benfica (5-3 on aggregate) Semifinals: Beat AC Milan (3-0 on aggregate)
By the numbers ?
This season’s raw Champions League statistics for the two finalists.
MANCHESTER CITY
INTER MILAN
7-5-0
Record
7-3-2
31
Goals Scored
19
5
Goals Against
10
Erling Haaland (12)
Top Scorer
Edin Dzeko (4)
Looking into some advanced metrics.
MANCHESTER CITY
INTER MILAN
25.5
Expected Goals (xG)
16.2
8.9
xG Against
14.1
+1.39
xG Difference per 90
+0.18
Tournament pedigree ?
Best European Cup finish for both clubs.
Manchester City: Runners-up (2021) Inter Milan: Champions (1964, 1965, 2010)
Manchester City, this season’s Premier League and FA Cup winners, have hoovered up silverware since Guardiola’s arrival but continue to chase the big-eared trophy that has, thus far, proven elusive. They’ll be making their second appearance in the final after their narrow defeat to English peers Chelsea in 2021. Inter, meanwhile, have featured in club football’s showpiece match five times before, emerging victorious on three occasions. Simone Inzaghi’s men are also aiming to finish the campaign with multiple trophies after retaining their Coppa Italia crown last month.
Fun facts ?
Michael Regan – UEFA / UEFA / Getty
Manchester City: Guardiola has an opportunity to enter rarefied territory on Saturday. With a victory, the Catalan manager would join Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, and Zinedine Zidane as the only men’s coaches to win the European Cup three times; Ancelotti is the lone bench boss to hoist it on four occasions. Guardiola, 52, led Barcelona to glory in 2009 and 2011, but hasn’t been able to repeat the feat since. He’ll look to end that drought in Turkey.
Inter Milan: Inzaghi is looking to become the first Italian coach to lead the Nerazzurri to European success. Inter’s previous triumphs were engineered by iconic tactician Helenio Herrera, the Argentine-French coach who oversaw the club’s “Grande Inter” era in the 1960s, and decorated Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho. Mourinho’s 2010 triumph included a famous semifinal victory over Barcelona, then coached by none other than Guardiola.
What they’re saying ?
Guardiola: “Of course we are confident, so optimistic, but at the same time I cannot deny the difficulties and qualities of the opponents … We know a final is about how you behave for 95 minutes. It’s not about history, for history they are better than us. It doesn’t matter what you do in the group stage, last 16, quarterfinals, Premier League, or FA Cup. It’s one single game you have to be better than the opponent.”
Inzaghi: “For us it was a dream but we have always believed in it. I’m proud to be here. Nobody has given us anything, we deserve everything that we have achieved. And now the dream to play the final has come true. It has been an extraordinary path and winning a derby in the semifinal brought particular satisfaction.”
