The "protracted takeover" of League Championship side Leeds United "took an unexpected turn on Wednesday night" when Mike Farnan's consortium, Together Leeds, confirmed that "it is in discussions with the Italian businessman Massimo Cellino" over purchasing the club together, according to the London GUARDIAN. The Football League is deliberating over Cellino's appeal against the decision to bar his holding company from completing the £25M ($42M) takeover after Cellino was found guilty of tax evasion in Italy. However, the addition of the Together Leeds group -- fronted by the Manchester-based Farnan and including Welcome to Yorkshire CEO Gary Verity, former Hull City Chair Adam Pearson and Red Strike Marketing exec Frank Devoy -- "is a surprising development in a saga that stretches back to the first week of February'' (GUARDIAN, 4/2). SKY SPORTS reported Cellino believes that Leeds is "suffering as a result of the Football League's handling of his prospective takeover of the club." Cellino: "The message I have to the Football League is that they should look after the clubs they represents in the proper way. I don't think they are acting in the interests of the clubs. They are hurting Leeds, not Massimo Cellino, very deeply" (SKY SPORTS, 4/2).
