The San Francisco 49ers have a “blueprint” to share with Leeds United on how to revive a storied club, says Paraag Marathe — a man with a foot in both camps.
Marathe is the new vice-chairman at Elland Road after the NFL franchise increased its stake in the three-time English champions to 37 percent last month.
The club, managed by Argentina’s Marcelo Bielsa, have made an eye-catching return to the Premier League following a 16-year hiatus.
Leeds, who were a dominant force in English football in the late 1960s and early 1970s, went into freefall after being relegated from the top-flight in 2004, tumbling down to the third tier before a decade spent languishing in the Championship.
Marathe, who is president of 49ers Enterprises, said he had his eye on investing in the club even before Italian Andrea Radrizzani took control in 2017 as it had “great bones”.
“I felt they had great potential and had fallen on hard times and had had multiple owners,” he told AFP in an online interview from his office in California.
Marathe has been at the 49ers for two decades and said the five-time Super Bowl champions could use their expertise gained in rebuilding the franchise to help the Premier League club.
“We have gone through the process of being the club that was underperforming with a dormant fan base,” he said.