Finance expert Kieran Maguire has criticised Daniel Levy’s reported £3.5 billion valuation of Tottenham Hotspur and believes the Spurs chairman needs to be more realistic.
It was recently revealed by The Telegraph that the Tottenham chief had bewildered experts in the industry with his valuation, and reportedly even quoted the figure to one party who held an interest in purchasing the club.
This comes as Spurs are continuing to search for a lucrative naming rights deal for the £1 billion state-of-the-art stadium, which opened at a delayed date nearly two-and-a-half years ago.
The stadium boasts a multi-functional use which was recently demonstrated during Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk, putting the facility and the club on the world map despite on-pitch difficulties.
Although Spurs appear to be doing well regarding endeavours away from actual football, finance expert Maguire feels Levy has to lower his expectations of what he believes the club is worth, especially compared to the Premier League’s big fish.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “For scale, the market valuation of Man United is around about £2.5bn.
“The way that you value a football club is the same as you would a house. How much do you owe the bank and how much equity do you have in it? If you’ve borrowed £50,000 and you’ve got £60,000 worth of equity, it’s worth £110,000, for example.
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“United have also got debts of around £500m to £600m, so that values them at around £3.1bn.”
He added: “Where does that leave us with Spurs, who have won just one trophy this century? The club has got excellent infrastructure but it’s not a global brand in the same way as Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea.
“That is reflected in the numbers. The way to look at the value for the brand is to assess commercial revenues. Man United earned £279m, Spurs £162m. That shows you where they are from a branding point of view.
“So how are you going to get someone to stump up that crazy money for Spurs? Yes, they have the multi-function stadium but they are also aren’t guaranteed European football.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It has been well documented that Levy drives a hard bargain, so it is no surprise that his valuation of the club seems a bit excessive.
It seems he is trying to do the best for Spurs and if the club is to be sold at some point, he is attempting to get as much as possible from a potential buyer.
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