Member Article

Cellino makes offer to buy back £16 million Elland Road for Leeds United

Massimo Cellino, the Leeds United owner, has said that he has made an offer to buy back Elland Road after it was sold in 2004 during the club’s financial crisis.

This offer has been made using money raised from the sale of Ross McCormack and other funds, after Cellino promised to buy the grounds back in February, predicting it could be bought back for £16 million.

Owned by the businessman Jacob Adler, the club have the option to buy back Elland Road for a set fee by 2029, when their 25-year lease ends.

The deeds to Elland Road are owned by Teak Commercial Ltd, a firm based in the British Virgin Islands, and neither of the past two Leeds owners, Gulf Finance House or Ken Bates, made any substantial moves to buy it back.

Leeds are paying £1.4 million in annual rent at the stadium but that sum rises by a small percentage every year.

McCormack was signed by Leeds’s fellow Championship club Fulham for £11 million in July, £16 million fee Cellino believes is required to repurchase the stadium.

Cellino told The Guardian: “The money from McCormack cannot be wasted, we sent a letter yesterday. My accountant sent a letter because we want our stadium back. I hope it will be done soon. Before November 100%, because in November the rent will be raised.

“We have to pay. I have to buy the stadium, then I have to fix a lot of other things. It’s our house and our home, we don’t want to be guests in our home. I knew that to buy the stadium back we needed £16 million.

“I want the stadium, we need to concentrate our energy on the club. It’s not agreed, we have the option to buy it and, if we try after November, it will cost more.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .