Leeds United takeover set for completion tomorrow

11:06pm Thursday 20th December 2012 in Sport

By Sports Desk

GREAT POTENTIAL: Leeds lost easily to Chelsea but boss Neil Warnock took lots of positives from the tie

Leeds are expected to confirm the club’s £52million takeover by Bahrain investment bank GFH Capital tomorrow morning at a press conference at Elland Road.

The West Yorkshire club announced at the end of last month that GFH Capital’s 100 per cent takeover would be completed on December 21, with current owner Ken Bates to stay on as chairman until the end of the season during a transitional period.

GFH Capital deputy chief executive David Haigh, who became a director at Elland Road on November 21, is expected to be joined on the board by three more of the Middle East consortium’s representatives.

A new club chairman will be appointed by the new owners at the end of the season when Bates will become club president.

GFH Capital, who first entered into talks with Leeds in May, have already transferred money into the club and will be making further funds available to manager Neil Warnock, who will have the new owners’ full support.

On the field, Leeds’ attention returns to their npower Championship campaign at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday after they were dumped out of the Capital One Cup 5-1 by Chelsea.

After four league wins from their last five games, those inside Elland Road now feel a play-off place is attainable and Warnock is desperate to unlock the potential he sees in the former Champions League semi-finalists.

“I’ve never heard anything like the noise when the first goal went in (against Chelsea),” he said. “It should be like that every week. It was amazing to listen to the noise.

“It shows what can be done at a club like this.”

“Goodness knows what European nights must have been like because it was an amazing atmosphere.

“If we can get things right here, there’s no reason why we can’t push to have that every week. It’s a super club with the crowds we can get isn’t it?”

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