Leeds United’s general staff have been told that they will avoid redundancies and wage reductions, despite the club’s relegation from the Premier League.
In a meeting with chief executive Angus Kinnear today, employees at Elland Road were given reassurances over their positions amid major uncertainty about Leeds’ ownership situation and future plans.
The club are stuck in boardroom limbo with minority shareholder 49ers Enterprises attempting to agree a cut-price buy-out of chairman Andrea Radrizzani following Leeds’ drop into the EFL last weekend.
A takeover was lined up to go through this summer had Leeds avoided relegation but their failure to survive in the Premier League has forced the two sides to conduct negotiations over new terms. Discussions between them are yet to reach a successful conclusion.
Radrizzani, who bought Leeds in 2017 and saw the club promoted under former head coach Marcelo Bielsa three years later, remains in the thick of a separate bid to acquire Italian club Sampdoria.
Relegation will see the playing squad at Leeds incur wage reductions of up to 60 per cent and will lead to a spate of departures over the summer as the club battle to set themselves up to compete for an immediate promotion next season.
Day-to-day staff, however, have been informed that they are not under threat of reduced salaries or job losses.
Leeds have made little comment on their relegation, other than a short, unsigned statement released online after Sunday’s 4-1 defeat from Spurs, a result which prompted dissent and protests from an angry crowd in Elland Road.
Neither Radrizzani nor representatives from 49ers Enterprises have publicly addressed the club’s Premier League demise either.