A long-awaited deal initiated by Andrea Radrizzani while he was still majority owner of Leeds United has finally got over the line.
Radrizzani relinquished control of Leeds in July last year, with the investment arm of NFL side San Francisco 49ers upping their stake from 44 to 100 per cent.
The Milanese entrepreneur always wanted to remain in football after his time at Elland Road had ended, and he was linked with takeovers of a number of clubs in his six years at Leeds.
One of those was historic Italian side Sampdoria. He entered the final stage of talks with their now former owners in May 2023 alongside bid partners Gestio Capital.
Now, after over a year of drama, Radrizzani has returned to football.
Radrizzani-backed group formally completes Sampdoria takeover
As reported by Off The Pitch, the green light has finally been given for Gestito to assume full ownership of Sampdoria after a long-running feud between the current and previous owners.
Radrizzani is coming on board in an executive role, well over a year after the 49-year-old was first linked with the club through his investment vehicle Aser Ventures.
The value of the deal for the Serie B side is not known but is likely to be in the low eight-figure bracket.
What is known, however, is that the investors have committed around £37m in funds for the one-time Scudetto winners.
Radrizzani has been candid about the fact that he regrets how his time at Leeds United ended: with relegation back to the Championship in 2022-23.
On a personal level, Radrizzani will likely feel that his return to football with Sampdoria, who are managed by Italian legend Andrea Pirlo, is his chance to right some wrongs.
Radrizzani’s mixed Leeds United legacy
It is fair to say that Radrizzani’s legacy at Leeds is complex.
On the one hand, they returned to the top flight for the first time under 20 years on his watch and finished 9th in their maiden Premier League campaign playing dazzling, high-octane football.
On the other, Radrizzani will be also be remembered as the man who dismissed club icon Marcelo Bielsa, oversaw some questionable recruitment decisions and managerial appointments.
What is not in doubt, however, even thought their failure to win promotion again in 2023-24 is still fresh, is that that Italian left the club in a better state than he found them.
The 49ers are an enormously wealthy enterprise with industry know-how of the highest order and have installed astute operators into key roles at Leeds.
Though they are still hamstrung by financial fair play constraints in the Championship, they will be able to turn on the afterburners when they are eventually in the top flight again.
The very fact that seems like an inevitability in the short to medium term is testament to how much Leeds’ fortunes have changed since the dawn of the Radrizzani era in 2017.