Newcastle United have opened up a sizeable gap on Spurs in the table - but the Lilywhites' latest financial results serve as a reminder of the gap the Magpies still have to bridge off it.
There are obvious caveats when comparing Newcastle to a London club, of course, but Spurs brought in £105.8m in match receipts last season, which was more than double what the black-and-whites did (£50.1m) in the same period. Spurs also generated £255.2m in commercial revenue, including third-party events, visitor attractions and conferences, with the help of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium whereas Newcastle raised less than a third of that figure (£83.6m) despite huge growth.
It is worth stressing that Newcastle have started from a much lower base following years of stagnation in the Ashley era; commercial income shockingly fell from £27.6m when the billionaire bought the club in 2007 to £26.5m a decade-and-a-half later. Newcastle have 'effectively got to run an extra lap behind everyone else', as a result, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
Whether Newcastle decide to transform St James' Park or to build a new ground not too far away, clearly, the stadium is going to be crucial to the club's prospects of turbocharging revenues in a PSR world - just as it has for Spurs as chairman Daniel Levy explained.
"Since opening our new stadium in April, 2019, we have invested over £700million net in player acquisitions," he wrote in his chairman's statement. "Recruitment remains a key focus and we must ensure that we make smart purchases within our financial means.
"I often read calls for us to spend more given that we are ranked as the ninth richest club in the world. However, a closer examination of today’s financial figures reveals that such spending must be sustainable in the long-term and within our operating revenues.
"Our capacity to generate recurring revenues determines our spending power. We cannot spend what we do not have and we will not compromise the financial stability of this club - indeed, our off-pitch revenues have significantly supplemented the lower football revenues this year, testament to our diversified income strategy."
Newcastle remain committed to consultation over a potential new stadium and club chiefs have insisted that no decisions have been made as of yet. The club have maintained throughout the process that they will fully update fans when they are in a position to communicate.
While a decision and any future stadium developments are made, Newcastle will look to continue to boost revenues and Eddie Howe has admitted that trading will be the 'most important' short-term PSR solution.