It has already been quite the summer at Leeds United with Joe Rodon arriving, the controversial new kit and the investment of Red Bull, and Josh Warrington has shared his thoughts.
Red Bull’s long-term interest in the club has finally materialised into investment made by the corporation, famed by its range of energy drinks. It is not the first time they have opted to invest in a football club.
Aside from their involvement in F1, Red Bull have basically taken over at Salzburg, Leipzig and New York. All three have Red Bull in their name and badge and Leeds fans are worried it may happen at Elland Road.
They will be the club’s shirt sponsor for 24-25, but Red Bull’s investment does aid Leeds in terms of Profit & Sustainability Rules. An issue that also saw the club cash in on Archie Gray, selling him to Tottenham.
Josh Warrington talks Rodon, Gray and Red Bull’s investment
The £40m exit of Gray was a separate deal to Rodon’s permanent Leeds arrival, but selling Gray to Spurs allowed Leeds to do a deal for Rodon for £10m. It saw Leeds given priority, Ipswich having a bid rejected.
Meanwhile, Leeds have released next season’s kit which has been met with criticism due to the inclusion of the colour red due to Red Bull’s logo. Some Leeds fans are angry, given rivalry with Manchester United.
Speaking to LeedsUnited.News, two-time world featherweight world champion Warrington spoke of his hope that Leeds go up next season, Rodon’s permanent deal, the new Leeds kit and Red Bull’s investment.
“It’s good to keep him [Rodon]. There was talk of him floating away. It’s a shame to lose Archie Gray but we seem to be keeping a lot of our senior players. Hopefully we can build on from where we were before.
“Last season, Daniel Farke didn’t even know what was happening with the squad; they were all over the place. We got to the play-off final but I thought we could’ve done even better than that,” Warrington said.
“We could have been in for automatic promotion. This time, we start with his squad, we have the backing of Red Bull as well. Let’s go up as champions,” the ‘Leeds warrior’ added, looking ahead to 2024-25.
Warrington’s thoughts on the new Leeds kit and criticism
The inclusion of red is the first time Leeds have done anything of the sort since Redkite was the sponsor in 2007-08. The worry of Red Bull’s domination of other clubs, twinned with the red, has drawn criticism.
But Warrington, who is preparing for an IBF super-featherweight title bout against Anthony Cacace at Wembley on September 21 on Anthony Joshua’s undercard, doesn’t think it matters a great deal.
The big Leeds fan believes the badge is the only thing to worry about: “A few people have complained that it has red on it. But it doesn’t matter to me. If it’s got the badge on the shirt, that’s all that matters.”
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