The value of Leeds United’s new partnership with soft drink giant Red Bull, according to club chairman Paraag Marathe, could be “the difference” between the team being able to hold onto a highly sought-after player and having to make a sale.

After Southampton defeated Leeds in the play-off final, Marathe held court with The Athletic and went into great detail about United’s new relationship with Red Bull.

Leeds and the energy drink giant have agreed to a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal and the latter’s purchase of a minority stake in the team.Red Bull’s exact investment amount was withheld by chairman Marathe, but he did say the company had a “significant minority stake” in the team, which could imply anything less than 50%. However, given Marathe’s admission that some investors have paid a higher percentage for a larger portion of the club, it is almost certain that Red Bull’s stake in Leeds is much lower.

Leeds has one objective in mind when it enters the transfer market this summer: assembling a team that can be promoted back to the Premier League. Although the Whites’ 90 points from the previous season would have guaranteed them a spot in the playoffs in each of the previous 25 seasons, the way Leicester City and Ipswich Town played meant that the Whites would have to go to the play-offs, where they would eventually lose at Wembley Stadium.Leeds thinks they are in a strong enough accounting position, despite the obvious disappointment and financial fallout from missing out on top flight riches this time around, to challenge for the top spot in the table again this coming season. In addition to the money that 49ers Enterprises and their consortium will provide, Marathe believes that Red Bull’s investment could have an impact on Leeds’ summer transfer activity.

The 49ers’ head said that Red Bull’s investment in Leeds is “significant” and among the most profitable deals in EFL history, even though he would not put a monetary value on the company’s sponsorship and minority stake.

If this deal hadn’t been important to us, we wouldn’t have completed it, Marathe said to The Athletic. “It might mean the difference between signing a player and keeping them from being sold.”

The chairman also took time to reassure fans that, considering Red Bull’s track record when marketing teams in which they have a sizable stake, alterations to Leeds’ colors, badge, and stadium would not be discussed. Similarly, unlike the 49ers, who made their intentions to own the majority of the team known at the outset of their investment journey with former Elland Road custodian Andrea Radrizzani, there is currently no agreement for Red Bull to take up a larger investment position in the team.