Leeds United managing director Robbie Evans has stressed the club’s owners San Francisco 49ers Enterprises have prevented the damaging scenario, allowed by the previous regime, whereby players were able to leave for little or no value upon relegation…..
“I can say categorically we don’t have any relegation loan clauses, which I found to be by far the most catastrophic,” he says.
“Some players have relegation sale clauses. All of them are at a price, at or well above the price, paid for them and many of them don’t. I’m pretty confident that any player that comes down either, we’ll be in control of their sale or if they’re sold, I’m comfortable with the return they’ll have generated.”
Leeds may not have sold anyone of significance but three strikers have been allowed to go. Patrick Bamford left permanently while both Mateo Joseph and Largie Ramazani are on loan at Mallorca and Valencia respectively in deals which favour United.
“We think very highly of Mateo, he has all those same characteristics of the right profile, skill set, etc, to play at any league in Europe, including in the Premier League. He needs the minutes and part of why his loan took as long as it did is that every team that was trying to take him on loan was requiring a buy option.
“We simply said there’s no way you’re getting an option on this player. Our hope is he has a phenomenal season at Mallorca and comes back. He’s a favourite of the club and the chairman and so we hope he does great. Same story for Largie who also has no buy option because we insisted we had the option to bring him back to the club.”
On Bamford, Evans said: “Daniel [Farke] made clear early in camp that Pat was not in his primary plans. At that point it felt fairest to Pat and to the club that he be let free to go and so we worked to get a mutual determination done that allows him that freedom. We love Pat, club legend, helped us get promoted twice, but at that point in time it was the fairest thing for everyone involved Jin.”
