Rangers will NOT become a feeder club for Leeds, insists new Ibrox vice-chairman (and Elland Road chairman) Paraag Marathe

Paraag Marathe has shot down any suggestion that Rangers will become a feeder club to Leeds United.

The Ibrox outfit are now controlled by a consortium involving 49ers Enterprises - the group which wholly owns the Elland Road club.

This has given rise to some concerns that Rangers might become a vehicle for Leeds to develop players who aren’t yet deemed good enough for their first-team.

But Marathe, the new Ibrox vice-chairman who’s also chairman of Leeds and president of 49ers Enterprises, insists those fears are completely unfounded.

‘It would be a disservice to Leeds and Rangers to consider one a feeder club to the other,’ he stressed.

‘Consider them both closed-loop universes that deserve proper attention and nurture and care. We will designate and assign resources approximately.

‘But look, there are opportunities to learn from each other, whether it’s commercially or competitively on the pitch.’

While Rangers are not technically part of a multi-club ownership model, the involvement of the 49ers in the proposed takeover did create a dual interest issue for the SFA to consider.

As with the involvement of Bournemouth owner Bill Foley in Hibs, however, the governing body was satisfied there was no impediment to the deal being done.

The issue of cross-club ownership has recently reared its head in England with Crystal Palace set to go to court to challenge UEFA blocking its entry into Europa League due to majority shareholder John Textor’s stake in Lyon.

The surprise winners of the FA Cup, Palace apparently didn’t get the necessary clearance from Nyon to play European football before the March 1 deadline for resolving such issues.

Marathe, however, confirmed that the Rangers and Leeds would have no such concerns if they were ever set to play in the same European competition.

‘We have checked the box with those that we need to to make sure that if and when there is ever even a situation when there is a perception of a conflict, we would solve that,’ he added.

‘That has already been solved, so we’re good there.’

Marathe also doesn’t feel compromised by the demands on his time which will inevitably come from San Francisco, Leeds and Govan.

‘I don’t see it as hours in a day, days in a week or weeks in a year. I really don’t,’ he said.

‘To me, I hate losing and I want to win. I will do whatever I need to do to keep me on the winning side of the ledger at any club. That is all I care about.

‘I don’t even know where I was two days ago. Honestly. Right now, I am here and thinking about this. That is all that drives me.’