The man at the very top of the San Francisco 49ers has insisted there has been no movement regarding talk of a takeover of Rangers and says whatever financial plans the company has, they won't overlap and impact on Leeds United. Jed York is the CEO of the San Francisco 49ers and co-owner and board member of Leeds United, with his parents owning the 49ers franchise.
The 45-year-old businessman has been speaking to ESPN at an NFL owners meeting in Florida and addressed some fan criticism of the 49ers and their recent transfer inactivity. The conversation also turned to the 49ers Enterprises and potential plans to purchase Glasgow giants Rangers, with Mr York making it clear the American football business is completely separate from Leeds and any other football matters, while suggesting there's been no development on the Rangers purchase.
He told ESPN: "We haven't done anything there. Leeds is obviously under the umbrella, but those are completely separate from the 49ers. Where we can tie brands together and sort of take our best practices of operating and things like that, [we do,] but in terms of financials, they don't overlap at all."
49ers Enterprises, who own Leeds United with Paraag Marathe as President of the company and chairman of the Whites, are understood to have agreed a deal in principle to purchase Rangers. It is understood consent on the deal being ratified has not yet come from the Scottish Football Association, but a deal could be done before he new season.
The news comes on the day Leeds published their accounts for the year up to June 2024. The Whites posted an underlying loss of £69.9million, down 10 per cent on the previous year, with a loss before tax of £61m - up a whopping 80 per cent from 2022/23 when they were in their last year of the Premier League before relegation.