Football Finance expert Stefan Borson believes trouble is brewing for Tottenham Hotspur this summer after the club took some big gambles in the transfer market over the last few years.
When Tottenham released their financial numbers back in March, Levy warned the fans that the club’s current transfer spending is unsustainable.
Over the last two weeks, various outlets have claimed that Spurs have to sell players before they can buy this summer after spending large amounts in previous transfer windows.
It was revealed that the club’s net transfer debt currently stands at £279.3, thus making it impossible for them to spend big this summer unless there is a significant injection of cash from ENIC.
Stefan Borson claims Tottenham simply do not have the money
Borson has now pointed out that Spurs have quietly spent huge amounts on new recruits over the last few years, and while their wage bill might not be as high as the biggest clubs in the Premier League, it is still setting the club back around £20m per month.
The finance expert has revealed that the Lilywhites’ accounts have taken a further beating due to their poor showing domestically this season.
He explained that they simply do not have the funds to sanction a huge outlay this summer, even though they are relatively comfortable with respect to PSR.
Borson told Football Insider about Spurs’ finances: “They haven’t got a PSR issue. They have loads of capacity on PSR. Their issue may be just pure cash. They have got a lot of outgoings. They have got big transfer debt because they bought quite a few players over the last few years, and quietly spent like £700 million on players.
“So, Tottenham have got instalments on players that still need to be made this summer. On top of that, they’ve got their wage bill, which although it’s not the biggest of the big six, it’s £220 million. It’s still significant every month. It’s the best part of £20 million a month on the wage bill, so that’s significant. They have got the big running costs of that stadium, and they’ve got debt servicing costs.
“So, they have a lot of cash requirements, actual pounds and pence, and they’re not generating cash if they underperform. They will maybe finish 16th this season. But they’re another team where I bet their budget said worst-case scenario seventh, maybe even fifth.
“They are another one that’s £20-30million down on where their budget said they’d be. So, all of a sudden, that’s real cash because that’s merit payments. “They would have been budgeting for that money coming in the door at the end of the season, and it’s now not coming because they’re going to finish a lot lower. Therefore, they do have a hole in their budget.”
Borson expects Spurs to have a difficult summer
The pundit pointed out that the only way for Tottenham to continue their spending spree this summer is through the injection of funds from the Spurs owners, which he does not expect ENIC to do.
When asked how Tottenham can get around this problem, he said: “That can only be filled either with borrowing or from equity from the shareholders. The shareholders don’t appear to want to put any money in. ENIC doesn’t look like they’re in a position to continue to stick equity in here.
“If they’re not in a position where they can do that, then they’re going to have no option but to be quite restrained in the summer or sell players.”