Daniel Levy has always been a divisive figure among the Tottenham fanbase since he became the club’s chairman in 2001 following ENIC’s takeover.
In the two decades under Levy’s stewardship, Tottenham have progressed significantly both on and off the field.
The club now boasts of one of the best stadiums in world football and generate one of the highest annual revenues in Europe.
However, that success has not yet been translated into silverware, with the North Londoners having only one League Cup to show for their efforts since Levy took over.
Some of the Tottenham chairman’s detractors have often alleged that Levy and ENIC have held the club back by not investing in the squad at the right moment.
Those people would have likely been angered when it was revealed last month that the 58-year-old is the second-highest-paid director in the Premier League, earning £2.959m-a-year (Swiss Ramble).
However, financial expert Kieran Maguire has stated that Levy deserves every penny of his bumper salary, given how much Spurs have progressed under his watch and lavished praise on the Tottenham chairman for continuing to run a tight ship in comparison to their rivals.
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When asked whether Levy is deserving of the £2.959m, Maguire told Football Insider: “Yes, he does. He has been responsible for turning Spurs into a big club.
“They’re not a big club in terms of trophies but the way that he has piloted the new stadium has made them likely to be the biggest earners in the Premier League in terms of matchday revenue.
“They’ve come from nowhere and he deserves a huge amount of credit for that. You can see why Joe Lewis, who decides his wages, is happy.
“Spurs are doing this while paying a lower proportion of their income in terms of wages than any other club in the division.
“The last four years [wages-to-turnover ratio], 41%, 39%, 39%, and they only paid 45% in 2020 and that’s a Covid year. These are phenomenal numbers.
“So he deserves every penny, from a financial point of view. Obviously, football is more than finance. Some people would rather they spent more and competed from trophies on a more regular basis, but in terms of the key performance indicators on which he is judged then the owner is very happy with his wages.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Levy has certainly made plenty of mistakes during his time and the club and deserves some criticism for not pushing the envelope when we were in touching distance of success under Redknapp and Pochettino.
However, it is easy to forget how much the club has evolved since the 1990s and early 2000s. The fact that we are now established members of the ‘big six’ is mostly down to the Tottenham chairman.
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