Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani expects top-six finish in the Championship

Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani has said a top-six finish is "the minimum" for the team this season.

The Italian became the sole owner of the Championship club in May after buying out Massimo Cellino's remaining 50% stake.

"We need to compete at the top of the league and be in the top six. A play-off place is the minimum requirement," he told BBC sports editor Dan Roan.

"Last year we had a good season but failed at the beginning and the end."

Leeds finished seventh in the Championship last season, missing out on the play-offs by five points to Fulham.

"If we keep the fighting characteristics we had during the season then we don't need to worry," added Radrizzani.

"I'd welcome promotion as a nice surprise but our target is the play-offs.

"For me pressure is positive. The players need to know they need to deliver results because we have massive support but we also need time because Rome was not built in a day."

The Italian businessman, who called the parachute payments given to relegated Premier League sides "unfair", said that he was committed to investing £100m into the club and he was there for "the long term".

In his first month in charge, Radrizzani bought back the club's Elland Road ground and appointed Dane Thomas Christiansen, 44, to replace Garry Monk, who left to take over at Middlesbrough.

Christiansen has never managed outside of Cyprus but Radrizzani believes the former Spain international is the right man for the job.

"I'm very confident in him otherwise I wouldn't have hired him," Radrizzani said. "We went through a lot of interviews and we found him as a young, emerging coach who he has done very well in the last couple of years

"He had good experience as a player and he knows his football. We have similar ideas about playing offensive and trying to win games."