Paraag Marathe teases Red Bull’s scouting network and whether Leeds United will sign their players

Investment in the club’s infrastructure and playing squad will be vital, and chairman Paraag Marathe has already made massive moves to do so.

Leeds announce Red Bull partnership this week

Thursday morning brought confirmation from the club that they have agreed to sell a minority stake to global energy drink giant Red Bull.

This investment also makes them the new shirt sponsor in a multi-year deal, replacing Boxt:

Fans worry about the implications for the club’s legacy, having seen Red Bull clubs spring up around the globe, but the statement reiterates that this will not be the case at Elland Road.

Paraag Marathe says if Leeds will sign players from Red Bull clubs

Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe has now discussed a number of questions on the matter with Red Bull’s new West Yorkshire links with The Athletic.

One of these is the prospect of Leeds making transfers from other Red Bull affiliate clubs such as Salzburg and Leipzig, but also possibly relying on their incredible scouting record to unearth gems from around the world.

Marathe said:

“Honestly, they are separate entities. We didn’t really think about it. I don’t know the details of the interactions between Leipzig and Salzburg that you just talked about. Everything I know about Leeds and what is best for Leeds United.

“Like I said, if there’s an opportunity somewhere or if we identify a talent that could benefit us, we’ll do it.

“The other benefit of that is that as minority investors in the club, they are another set of eyes and ears – quite keen and expert eyes and ears, in looking at other players in other leagues. Forget even the Red Bull players. They have a lot of extra players. As we evaluate and work for this window and future windows, we can say, “What do you think of this player?”. There are things we can learn that we wouldn’t have been able to learn otherwise.”

Using the Red Bull scouting network would be huge for Leeds

It’s hard to expect Leeds to make signings from the Red Bull system, but this partnership could see us lean on their scouting network.

One thing no one can deny about Red Bull is that they have an eye for immense talent: Erling Haaland, Benjamin Sesko, Sadio Mane, Dayot Upamecano, Joasko Gvardiol, Ibrahima Konate and the list goes on.

We should already have a pretty strong network of researchers, but taking a look at this would also be amazing.