Rangers takeover not expected to impact Leeds United's 'every penny' pledge
A consortium led by the owners of Leeds United has promised to "bring Rangers back to where it belongs" after completing a long-anticipated takeover, but those at Elland Road insist it will have no bearing on their ambitions for the Whites.
San Francisco 49ers Enterprises, who bought a controlling stake in Leeds two years ago, are heading up the multi-million pound deal. They now own 51 per cent of the Ibrox club after months of negotiations.
Rangers say the deal includes £20m of new investment.
Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe will become Rangers’ vice-chairman, with his 49ers Enterprises colleague Andrew Cavenagh in the chair.
They will "will oversee all aspects of the club", alongside new sporting director Kevin Thelwell, who officially starts work on Monday.
Davide Ancelotti, most recently assistant to his father Carlo at Real Madrid, and former Southampton manager Russell Martin are the front-runners as the next coach.
Rangers finished 17 points adrift of Celtic last season and were Scottish League Cup runners-up and Europa League quarter-finalists.
"This club's history and traditions speak for themselves, but history doesn't win matches," said Cavenagh. "We know that the true way to honour the club's heritage will be to drive performance.
"Our focus is simple: elevate performance, deliver results, and bring Rangers back to where it belongs – at the top."
At the end of 2024-25, Marathe promised: "We are going to build the best (Leeds) squad we can with every penny we're allowed to spend."
That was in reference to financial fair play rules, which cap how much money clubs can lose. Having spent the last two seasons in the Football League, Leeds are not permitted to lose as much as most of their Premier League rivals.
Plans have been set out to expand Elland Road’s capacity to 53,000, but the cost of that does not come under financial fair play rules.
UEFA theoretically prohibit sides under multi-club ownership competing in the same continental competitions – the 49ers’ long-term target for Leeds. But an increasing number have circumvented this in recent years, and the Scottish Football Association considered the dual interest before approving the deal.