Reports from Italy are suggesting that Cellino is planning a return to his native land to take over Parma FC, but who would be likely to buy his controlling stake in Leeds United?

Cellino and acting Leeds chairman Andrew Umbers have both denied that Il Presidente has any intention of selling up at Elland Road, the Yorkshire Post have reported that other sources are saying the exact opposite.

Other members of Cellino’s family are said to want to return to Italy, and he may also have got tired of his constant battles with the Football League. While his current ban on any involvement with the club will finish at the end of the season, there is the possibility of further sanctions in the future as a result of a couple of similar tax cases that will come before the Italian courts pretty soon.

Parma are in a similar state to the situation Leeds were in when Cellino bought us last season, facing possible bankruptcy as well as having neat club colours of white gold and blue. They currently need to find the cash to pay off a sporting debt of €74m before the start of next season or they will be demoted to the amateur divisions.

Last week Cellino claimed that Red Bull had made an offer of £60m for the club, a sum which would just about leave him in profit after the amount he had to pay GFH for the controlling share and the sums he’s had to pay ever since to prop us up. But this claim was denied by their head of global football marketing, Oliver Mintzlaff. He told the German news agency DPA "Another involvement in football is not planned."

Meanwhile, The Leeds Fans Limited Liability Partnership, who are hoping to raise £10m to buy a minority stake in the club, are claiming to have been in touch with six other parties, all of whom would be happy with the supporters group having a significant say in the running of the club. We will have to assume that Red Bull weren’t among them, as they haven’t tolerated any opposition from fans at the clubs they already own.

When they changed the name of Salzburg FC to ‘Red Bull Salzburg’ and the club colours to red, they threatened to refuse admission to any fans who turned up to games in the club’s traditional colours of purple. This upset a good portion of their supporters so much that they broke away to form their own club, even though that meant starting from scratch in non-league football.

You can just imagine how we would react if they changed our name to ‘Red Bull Leeds’ and made us play in the colours of our most hated rivals! We can but hope and pray that if Cellino is planning to sell that Red Bull are telling the truth when they deny having any interest in the club, and that the fans group have indeed found some other bidders who will have far more respect for the traditions of our club.

Photo: Action Images

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