Leeds United managing director Angus Kinnear has promised the club will invest the money they received from 49ers Enterprises back into the playing squad this summer.

Kinnear joined talkSPORT a few hours after Leeds confirmed a minority stake in the club had been sold to the investment group behind NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers.

Reports say around £10m has been invested in the Elland Road club, and Kinnear made it clear that this money will be used to improve Leeds first-team squad ahead of the 2018/19 season.

When asked if he could promise the investment would go towards strengthening the playing squad, Kinnear told Jim White: Absolutely! That was core to the deal.

Were all about trying to put the best team on the pitch we can and restore Leeds to where they deserve to be and belong to be. Therefore all the funds were always going to be around to strengthen the first team squad.

Further discussing the deal, Kinnear expressed his belief that Leeds will benefit not just financially from the partnership, as the 49ers will be able to help the Championship side in other areas.

Its a big step forward [for the club], Kinnear continued.

Its important not only from a financial perspective – we know we need increased funds to compete in the transfer market going into next season – but we are also pleased we found partners who can provide other expertise and who buy in to what Leeds are trying to achieve, and we think weve found that with one of the most famous sporting brands in the world.

Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has made a lot of the right moves since completing his 100 per cent buy-out of the club last May, although on-pitch performances have left a lot to be desired with Leeds ending the Championship season just outside the top half of the table.



Radrizzani has owned Leeds since May 2017, when he upgraded his 50 per cent stake to 100 per cent

His biggest mistake was the introduction of a new club crest, which was unveiled in February before being delayed just a few days later following widespread ridicule. Leeds still intend to launch a new badge in their centenary year of 2019/20, but Radrizzani listened to the outcry from the clubs support to shelve the original design.

And Kinnear said that this shows he and Radrizzani are doing their best for the club.

He added: Andrea and I will never apologise for trying to push the club forward, and in areas weve gone wrong – such as the badge – weve been quick to hold our hands up and listen to the fans.

Well always put the fans at the heart of what we do.

But this year we really want to focus back on the football. There is really only one metric for success at Leeds United, and that is getting Leeds back into the Premier League.

Andrea remains as committed as ever probably even more committed following the experiences of last season. Hes very determined to do everything in his power to make sure Leeds go back up.

And I think this is the first sign, and Im confident there will be more across the summer which should give fans confidence were moving in the right direction, and that our commitment to get the club up is greater than ever.