Massimo Cellino may refuse to walk away if Leeds win promotion to Premier League this season

Cellino may be prepared to sit out his ban, which runs until the summer of 2018, in order to reap the financial benefits of promotion

A general view of Elland Road, Leeds United's home ground (Getty)

Leeds United’s ignominious two-year era under the chaotic ownership of Massimo Cellino appears to be reaching an end, with the sale of a 50 per cent of the club to another Italian, though promotion to the Premier League at the end of this season could ironically dash supporters’ hopes that he will sell out entirely and walk away.

The sale to Andrea Radrizzani, an Italian TV rights mogul, came after Cellino was hit with an 18-month suspension from the game by the Football Association and The Independent understands that the governing body are also ready to impose further sanctions against the former majority owner for the way he sexually discriminated against and dismissed the club’s respected former head of education, Lucy Ward.

But though the FA’s ruling that Cellino paid a £185,000 bung to an unlicensed adviser representing striker Ross McCormack has pushed the Italian towards a substantial disposal of the club he said he would never sell, the allure of Premier League football may be too much to see him walk away.

With Garry Monk’s side currently fifth in the table and seven points off the automatic promotion places, it is understood Cellino may be prepared to sit out his ban, which will run until the summer of 2018, if it means the chance to reap the financial whirlwind of promotion.

Monk, who became the seventh manager in less than three years of Cellino’s stewardship when he was appointed last June, has secured greater stability than his predecessors by surrounding himself with a greater number of football professionals and refusing to tolerate the Cellino sycophants, who effectively became spies for him at the Thorp Arch training ground. It remains to be seen whether the 37-year-old, can convert that independence into promotion.

Cellino told The Independent last April that he would never sell. “I'm not selling the club. If I had to buy the club again - never. I'm dealing with things every day that are not football,” he said. “But I'm not selling the club.”

Radrizzani is optimistic that he will be able to take control of the club, though he will for now work under the title of co-owner, having acquired half of United’s shares through his company Aser Group Holding.

He was one of the founders of the global media rights firm MP & Silva and developed it into a company of more than £500m worth. Discussions of a Leeds takeover with Cellino began last May and seemed to have been successful until the deal hit the rocks last October. The renewal of discussions before Christmas coincided with the FA ban, which Cellino is currently appealing.


 Massimo Cellino told The Independent last April that he would never sell Leeds 
 (Getty Images)

The ‘Time To Go Massimo’ campaign group welcomed the news of Radrizzani’s purchase and said it believed that Premier League promotion would not necessarily be an impediment to a sale. Instead, promotion to the top flight could possibly mean Cellino is simply paid a larger sum for the remaining 50 per cent of his shares.

“It is an important moment, and we are delighted that Massimo has finally accepted that for the club to truly move to the next level, he needs to step aside,” a spokesman for the group said. “There is a deal in place for the remaining 50 per cent, with the price fixed on league position and possible bonus payment for promotion, and Massimo will be gone by early summer 2017.”