Levy On Transfer Policy

Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy is the latest figure from the Tottenham camp to speak publicly in defence of Spurs’ shrewd transfer business this Summer.

Spurs are the only Premier League side yet to make a single signing in the current transfer window, a stat us fans are surely tired of reading, yet many of the Spurs team have come out recently in support of the lack of signings, suggesting instead that it is more important to keep the current team together.

As opposed to their rivals, who’ve spent considerably high amounts on new signings so far this Summer, Tottenham seem to have more faith in the current first-team and specific academy products to deliver silverware in the near future.

Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy has gone even further than that though, suggesting that spending £200 million+ on players every season is ‘unsustainable’. As reported by BBCSport, Levy himself said:

“We have a duty to manage the club appropriately.”

“Some of the activity that is going on at the moment is just impossible for it to be sustainable.”

“Somebody spending £200m more than they’re earning, eventually it catches up with you. And you can’t keep doing it.”

This is a clear nod to Tottenham’s top 4 rivals Manchester City, who’s transfer dealings include former Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker, who signed for a reported £53 million.

According to SkySports, Levy also explained that Tottenham’s transfer business has not been influenced or restricted by the construction of the new stadium.

“Regardless of the stadium project,” He added. “Today our position on transfers is that we have a coach that very much believes in the academy.”

“Unless we can find a player who would make a difference he would rather give one of our academy players a chance, so that’s regardless of the financing of the stadium.”

Levy then went on to discuss the importance of the youth academy at great length, revealing that the fans prefer to see home-grown talent represent their club, in a similar vein to ‘one of our own’ Harry Kane. He said:

“At the same time, the academy is important because we can produce our own players. We don’t have to go and spend £20m, £30m, £40m on a player, and obviously that 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 Harry Kane and sing that he’s one of our own.”

Offering more insight into the financial situation surrounding the new stadium, Levy reiterated that Tottenham’s transfer business was in no way being affected by the construction of Spurs’ new home, which Tottenham are set to move into at the beginning of the the 2018-19 season.

“Obviously when you’re building a stadium of this magnitude in a UK context it all has to be privately financed,” He explained. “There’s no state help whatsoever.”

“It is a challenge and we have to find the right balance, but it’s not impacting us at the moment on transfer activity because we’re not yet in a place where we’ve found the player who we definitely want to buy but can’t afford to buy.”

Levy then weighed in a touch more on Tottenham’s Premier League rivals and their spending sprees, stating how he feels it is ‘unsustainable’ in the long run. He said:

“My view is that it’s totally unsustainable. I’m not sure if that’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 being sustainable in the long term.”

“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. I think we have a duty to manage the club appropriately. I don’t think that long-term, for any club, it’s sustainable to spend more than you earn. You can have periods where you do but over the long-term you can’t.”

“I think that some of the activity that’s going on at the moment is just impossible to be sustainable. You know if somebody is spending £200m more than they’re earning then eventually it catches up with you. You can’t keep doing it”

“We’ve managed the club, we think, in a very appropriate way,” He added. “We’ve invested a lot of money in physical facilities for long-term growth. So we’ve got one of the world’s best training facilities. We’ve invested over £100m in that facility.”

“We’re now investing in the stadium. The stadium is fundamental because with that we get more fans and more income and that’s the way to clearly have a more sustainable business.”

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