A 49ers chief has embraced the good and the bad of Leeds United - which will be music to Rangers ears. The San Francisco 49ers Enterprise wing are in takeover talks at Ibrox. They have already taken ownership of the Elland Road side currently in the English Championship and their chairman, Paraag Marathe, is a key player in the Rangers bid. Back in 2021 when Leeds United were a Premier League club, Marathe addressed a level of vitriol aimed at them in the top flight of English football. Rangers fans have an age-old mantra of ‘No one likes us, we don’t care’ and the Leeds United powerbroker’s response to ‘hate’ of his team fits right into siege mentality thinking. He told the Telegraph in 2021: “This is probably a good opportunity to say it [reaction to Leeds in the Premier League] has definitely been positive overall, but it has also been very negative. People love to hate Leeds, so it goes both ways. But that underscores what I have been saying from the beginning, this is a club that belongs in the Premier League. “There is a fascination with the club. There was a social media report published recently, talking about the levels of interaction on social media, of Premier League clubs and I think Leeds ranked fifth of sixth on that. Whether you love or hate them, it still makes them popular because people are talking about them the whole time. They love the way we play. They love our history, they love to talk about Bielsa. It’s one of those clubs that provokes a reaction.” Also at that time, Marathe acknowledged Leeds United fans may have some doubts over a US takeover, some of which may now linger in the thoughts of Rangers supporters, but he vowed to get invested in the culture. Marathe added: “I would expect nothing less than some degree of scepticism about our involvement given, and I don’t necessarily want to say the chequered history of American involvement in English football, or American individuals, but it’s fair to say there have been some negatives and some positives. “What I have learnt in my homework and research, as well as my life in general, is don’t get involved in something unless you are passionate about it. From what I’ve seen, I don’t need to name specifics, is someone looking to make an investment in European soccer because they view it as a money-making opportunity. Or a place to park money and further boost their ego. “There is a level of detachment or dispassionate viewing and that doesn’t work, not in sports. This isn’t buying stocks. This isn’t buying into a hedge fund. It’s the lives of a whole community and you have to care. We wouldn’t have got involved if we didn’t care. I am emotionally involved, I am not thinking about our 37 per cent stake and investment when I watch games, it’s because I care about the result. “Which brings me on to my second point. One thing that is very different in American sport and English football is clubs belong to the communities. Loyalty depending on where you were born. That’s a different degree of passion than we have here in the USA. We want to modernise the stadium, we want to enhance the match-day experience, but we are not going to do that compromising the aura and history of that 100-year-old ground. We do not want to get involved so that our input makes the club sterile. That defeats the purpose of what makes the club special. Leeds are part of my family now.”