Leeds United chairman pledges 'aggression' in signing search as department changes announced

The eagerly-awaited full takeover of the Championship club by 49ers Enterprises was finally confirmed on Tuesday evening after United received approval from the English Football League.

Marathe has taken over as chairman and oversee all aspects of club matters, including football and business operations.

Chief executive officer Angus Kinnear will remain in his current position and continue to direct day-to-day operations. Rudy Cline-Thomas, founder and managing partner of MASTRY, will join the board as co-owner and vice chairman.

Chelsea mdifielder Ethan Ampadu is set to become the club's first summer recruit, with the Wales international poised to complete a £7m move.

So far this close-season, the focus has been on moving on a number of big-earners with relegation clauses in their contracts to provide Leeds with room for manoeuvre in the transfer market.

Rodrigo, Diego Llorente, Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca, Robin Koch and Tyler Roberts and have all moved on.

With the start to the season just over two-and-a-half weeks away, Leeds will now re-focus on incoming business.

Marathe, speaking in a wide-ranging interview on the official Leeds United podcast, said: "We want to go as strong as possible. There is a history of odds with bounce-back clubs and things like that. But we also want to double-down with having a very high-quality squad as best we can to keep as many guys as we can to bounce back up.

"I want to give him (manager Daniel Farke) all the resources that he needs off the pitch, but also trying to maximise the resources we can keep on the pitch."

Marathe's role with the San Francisco 49ers sees him work, among other things, as the club's chief contract negotiator and salary cap architect, and in United's transitional period, he will take a hands-on role regarding recruitment and contractual decisions.

He continued: "I do think especially now given this transitional period and my expertise, it is not just I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work, but I think I have a particular expertise to help do that and navigate P and S (profit and sustainability) and FFP (Financial Fair Play) and all those things."The truth is we want to do this, not just because we are trying to do this balancing act and maintaining good finances. We want to be aggressive and get right back up as soon as we can and do what it takes.

"Because to us, the Championship is hopefully just a speed-bump in our way to a much longer path that we are going on.

"We want to be as aggressive as we can be, which is probably going to require us to be as creative as we can be as well."United have confirmed Gretar Steinsson as the club's new technical director.

The Icelander, 41, a former professional in England with Bolton Wanderers, has joined the club from Tottenham Hotspur.

He will work alongside Nick Hammond, who will continue to oversee player trading throughout this window.

Adam Underwood will step up to become head of football operations, while Hannah Cox and Rob Price have been named as head of football administration and head of medicine and performance respectively.