Tottenham chairman and co-owner Daniel Levy understands that in the cutthroat arena of Premier League finance, if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.
In the absence of Joe Lewis following his conviction for insider trading in 2024, Levy is the undisputed, unchallenged head honcho of Tottenham and ENIC, who own 85 per cent of the club.
He has previously suggested that he runs Spurs as though they are a publicly traded firm. Indeed, they still have around 30,000 external shareholders as a legacy of their time on the London Stock Exchange.
Almost 30 years on from becoming the first club to float shares on the London Stock Exchange, the Tottenham delisted in 2012. That decision was led by Levy himself.
The 62-year-old – who is now the Premier League’s longest-serving and best-paid executive – believed going private was crucial to raise the capital to pay for the North Londoners’ new stadium.
In that call, as with most he makes in football finance – if not in the sporting side of the industry – Levy was spot-on. They secured around £800m through a mix of bank loans, private finance and grants.
Spurs dodged the explosion in borrowing costs sparked by the pandemic. Almost all of the stadium loans are at fixed interest rates of less than three per cent.
They pay around £20-25m per year to service the debt. That is offset several times over by the profitability of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which yields well over £100m even in bad seasons.
It isn’t just cash through the turnstiles either. The 62,850-seater, multi-purpose arena has been the catalyst for a near 250 per cent boom in revenue from sponsorship, events and merchandise.
The value of Tottenham as an enterprise has soared as a result. With Levy currently smoking out potential new investors, he is quoting £3.75bn.
This is Spurs 2.0, new-money and old-money simultaneously.
They’ve long had the prestige of being one of English football’s traditional ‘Big Five’, the bloc from the 1980s and 90s who were instrumental in the foundation of the Premier League.
However, until relatively recently, they didn’t have the revenue to match. 10 years ago, their turnover was a little over half of North London rivals’ Arsenal, for example.
Now, they are consistently one of the ten richest clubs in world football year on year.
Levy has got them there almost single-handedly. If only results on the pitch matched the masterclass in brand building, debt management, and cost control.
Spurs won 4-1 against Ipswich Town at the weekend but are 12th in the Premier League table, and 2024-25 has felt like an inflection point for Levy and ENIC.
The protests in N17 are getting bigger and louder. What’s more, they are aimed squarely at the owners, not Ange Postecoglou.
The timing of a fresh wave of stories suggesting that a group of Qatari investors are exploring buying into Tottenham has therefore stirred hopes that Levy may finally be ready to cash in.
Qatari invested in buying Tottenham
It was reported earlier this month that a group of private Qatari individuals – as opposed to a sovereign wealth fund – was considering investing in Spurs.
Structurally, a phased buyout is said to have been touted in an arrangement that could potentially see Levy remain as chairman.
The view among industry experts approached by TBR Football is that state or sovereign wealth would be involved somewhere in the chain, which would back up claims made elsewhere in the media.
That in turn would be in keeping of previous reporting from reliable sources that Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) or the Qatar Investment Authority are interested in Spurs.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi lambasts John Textor amid Spurs takeover saga
If Qatari investment in Spurs materialises, Nasser Al-Khelaifi will be central to the story.
One of the most powerful men in football, Al-Khelaifi is head of Paris Saint-Germain, the European Club Association, Qatar Sports Investment, BeIn Sport, and a member of UEFA’s executive committee.
He is close with Levy. In 2023, the pair met for face-to-face talks at a London restaurant. While the club denied it, several reputable outlets said those discussions centred around potential investment in Spurs.
QSI’s ownership of PSG would complicate matters. Under UEFA rules, two clubs under the a shared ownership umbrella cannot compete in the same European club competition.
However, the mood music recently suggests the Gulf state’s commitment to the 12-time Ligue 1 winners is waning in the face of an official investigation into Al-Khelaifi and diminishing geopolitical returns.
But if that is the case, Al-Khelaifi himself has clearly not lost the fire in his belly.
In the latest episode of a long-running feud between the two men, Al-Khelaifi has lashed out at Lyon owner John Textor – in a Ligue 1 meeting.
Remarkably, a screen recording of the call has been leaked and documented by French outlet, L’Equipe.
Al-Khelaifi called his opposite number a “cowboy” in response to Textor’s accusations that Al-Khelaifi was dominating discussions about the media rights crisis in French.
“We’re running out of time. Maybe someone other than Nasser [Al-Khelaifi] should speak. Nasser, you’re being a bully,” Textor said.
“John, stop talking,” Al-Khelaifi sniped back. “You don’t understand anything. You’re a cowboy coming from… I don’t know where. You don’t have answers.”
Textor responded sardonically: “Right, I’m an outsider, I’m an idiot, I don’t understand anything.”
On Sunday, when Textor’s Lyon face PSG. Textor donned a cowboy hat for the occasion.
If Al-Khelaifi does ever become involved with Spurs, Premier League shareholder meetings could become the latest arena of conflict between the two men.
He is currently trying to divest his stake, but Textor is the single largest shareholder in Crystal Palace.
After Textor’s Botafogo won the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League, the American billionaire shared messages between himself and Al-Khelaifi wherein the Qatari said: “You don’t understand anything in football and [it is a] waste of time to talk to you. And you will lose everywhere you go.”
Could Textor saga unlock Spurs investment via David Blitzer?
Textor wants to increase his stake in Palace to take majority control, but Steve Parish, Josh Harris and David Blitzer have been unwilling to budge so far.
That has led Textor, who also tried to buy Everton in 2024, to attempt to sell his stake in the club as he prepares to list his Eagle Football group on the New York Stock Exchange.
However, if there was a shakeup in the Palace situation, it could theoretically open the door for movement in Levy’s search for a new equity partner at Spurs.
As well as Amanda Staveley and a small handful of alternatives, Palace shareholder David Blitzer has been linked with investing in Totenham, albeit on a minority basis.
Under the Premier League’s conflict of interest rules, dual ownership is not allowed, but if he was to relinquish control of the 38 per cent he owns in tandem with Harris, it would him free Blitzer up to negotiate with Levy.