Deal done: Daniel Farke confirm the sudden return of former key player….

Deal done: Daniel Farke confirm the sudden return of former key player….

Massimo Cellino remains one of the most-controversial figures in Leeds United’s history after his tumultuous ownership of the club between 2014 and 2017.

 

The ‘King of Corn’ bought Leeds in 2017 after finally getting approval from the EFL after first having his application to buy Leeds denied. Numerous court cases, Elland Road cuts and more followed at Leeds.

Not just that, but his purchasing of 14 players in one summer, hiring and firing managers at a rate of nearly three a season and his strange superstitions all meant that Cellino was finally forced out of Leeds.

 

Stephen Warnock recalls how Cellino removed water from the Thorp Arch pool and ordered the squad to buy their own lunch and socks. That was amid many different legal issues and decisions during his tenure.

Stuart Dallas arrived in Massimo Cellino’s second summer at Leeds

Bought for £1.3m from Brentford, Dallas joined Leeds in 2015 in Cellino’s second summer. Dallas actually played for two years before Andrea Radrizzani got involved at Leeds, three years before Marcelo Bielsa.

He knows better than most what it was like to play under the Italian’s stewardship of the Yorkshire club. Leeds fans hardly remember Cellino fondly but surprisingly, Dallas told LUFCinema he liked Cellino.

 

“I know it’s cliche for people to say when they come to the club, they couldn’t turn the club down but Leeds was different. It’s special, but the club was a mess. I know the fans have a different view on Cellino.

 

“Personally had a great relationship with Massimo. The club was a mess, a bit frantic. It was all over the place but I genuinely couldn’t have picked a better club after I left Brentford,” Dallas said in his verdict.

Massimo Cellino has not changed at all now at Italian side Brescia

The former Leeds supremo took over at Serie B side Brescia in 2017 after selling Leeds and to be fair to the Italian, he has remained there since. But in his seven-year stint, he has changed manager 21 times.

 

The most-recent occasions coming earlier this month, when Cellino hired Pierpaolo Bisoli. At Brescia, he has also hired Pep Clotet on two separate occasions, the man who worked at Leeds as Garry Monk’s no.2.

Cellino will never change and while back in his home country and minus the court cases, his approach to owning a football club and his scatter-gun manager tactic continues to the frustration of Brescia fans.