American millionaire hopes to hijack Leeds United takeover TSS November 11, 2012 Leeds United 77 Comments American millionaire Preston Haskell IV has told The Sunday Times that he’s hoping to hijack GFH Capital’s takeover of Leeds United and invest in the club himself. Haskell – the son of namesake Preston Haskell III, a multi-millionaire property developer – has amassed a personal fortune believed to be in the region of $250m (£157m) and has told The Sunday Times he’ll provide an immediate £10m for Neil Warnock to strengthen his squad and get Leeds United back to the Premier League. “As a businessman I see a club that has an incredible brand and that offers a great entrepreneurial opportunity to take it back to the level which it saw in its glory days. Leeds is a well-managed club from Ken Bates down to Neil Warnock, and I have great respect for that aspect of its operations. “It’s a very strategic investment. I love English football, the Premier League is where everyone aspires to be, and Leeds has an incredible support base, the pedigree, and a global reach, including South Africa, Australia, Ireland, and Norway. In short, it has a global following. It is one of the absolute blue-chip teams.” “Blue-chip” Leeds United has been in desperate need of investment for several years now. Currently starved of cash and lacking the necessary depth to overcome even the smallest of injury crises, Neil Warnock’s side sit 17th in the Championship following an embarrassing 1-6 defeat at home to Watford yesterday. GFH Capital have been working on a takeover of the club for almost six months, during which time Leeds fans have been frustrated by the lack of information revealed publicly and the incredibly slow pace at which things have progressed. Not for the first time, it’s recently been claimed GFH’s takeover is nearing a conclusion, no doubt hastened by an exclusivity agreement which is said to expire in the next few days. It seems the expiration of this exclusivity agreement has prompted Haskell to declare his intent publicly, presumably in the hope that Ken Bates will stall the deal with GFH a little longer to consider his alternative proposal.