By Andrew Warshaw
July 26 – While most of the leading clubs in the English Premier League have gone on a massive pre-season spending spree, one of them, Tottenham Hotspur, have been conspicuous by their lack of activity in the transfer window.
With the exception of Spurs every other side in the top six has spent over £30 million on a player, with Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all having broken their transfer records.
The reason his club have not followed suit, says Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy (pictured), is that from a business standpoint such profligacy is simply unsustainable.
While clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have splashed the cash as if there was no tomorrow, Tottenham have been commendably prudent, taking the view that teamwork is as important as big-name signings.
More than £850 million has been spent by top-flight sides in the transfer window, which ends on August 31. Spurs may have sold their England rightback Kyle Walker to Manchester City for £45 million but movement the other way has so far been non-existent.
That may seem odd for a team that finished runner-up to Chelsea in the title race last season and will once again be a contender when the new campaign begins in mid-August, but Levy says he has “a duty to manage the club appropriately.”
“I’m not sure if it’s the view of the other Premier League clubs but certainly the prices that are being paid for other Premier League players, I can’t see it being sustainable in the long term,” said Levy who usually keeps his cards close to his chest in public. “Somebody spending £200 million more than they’re earning, eventually it catches up with you. And you can’t keep doing it. We’ve managed the club, we think, in a very appropriate way.
“I think I am a custodian of this football club. This club has been around since 1882 and when I leave it will be somebody else.”
Walker’s departure aside, Spurs, who in the past have been accused of panic-buying, have retained the same squad that finished second last season, the north London club’s highest position for over half a century.
Tottenham are in the process of building a new state-of-the-art 61,000-seat stadium, which is expected to cost £750 million and is scheduled to open next year. Clearly a balance has to be struck between such expense and bringing in new players and while Tottenham seem bound to enter the transfer market at some point before the window closes, Levy recognises the importance of team spirit and the obvious fact that only one club can win the league title no matter how much money is splashed about.
Speaking at a Nasdaq Q&A in New York, Levy added: “Obviously when you’re building a stadium of this magnitude and it all has to be privately financed – there’s no state help whatsoever – it is a challenge.
“We have to find the right balance but I can honestly say it is not impacting us on transfer activity because we are not yet in a place where we have found a player that we want to buy who we cannot afford to buy. We’ve got one of the world’s best training facilities. We’ve invested over £100 milllion in that facility.”
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is making a point of refreshingly developing the careers of young academy players, many of whom are on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.
“Our position on transfers is that we have a coach who very much believes in the academy, so unless we can find a player that makes a difference we would rather give one of our young academy players a chance,” said Levy.
“The academy is important because if we produce our own players we don’t have to spend £20 million or £30 million on a player. A homegrown player has an affinity with the club that a player we buy doesn’t. That’s what the fans want to see. They want to have that passion. That’s what you get with a homegrown player and that’s why people love (England striker) Harry Kane and sing that he’s one of our own.”
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