The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke and Charlie Eccleshare have written a piece on Daniel Levy that is certainly worth the time of Spurs fans, with the article delving into the Tottenham chairman’s past as well as different aspects of his personality.
One of the topics covered is Levy’s infamous negotiation tactics in the transfer market.
The Spurs chairman has a reputation of being a penny-pincher and an uncompromising negotiator and the article does little to dispel that notion.
A source who frequently deals with the 58-year-old is quoted as saying: “The thing is, I like Daniel. Daniel, between February and June, and September to December, is a great guy. But Daniel in the transfer window… is a different guy.”
It is also revealed that a prominent agent is known to complain about how the Tottenham chairman will not even leave him “the breadcrumbs” from deals as is determined to “sweep them up himself”.
Speaking about his experience of negotiating his wages with Levy, one unnamed former Spurs player is quoted as saying: “He’s really nice, until it comes to business. You want £50k, he says £40k — it goes on and on. After a while, you just get fed up.”
There are also some examples given of Levy’s hardnosed approach and how it has ended up riling other clubs.
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It is claimed that Levy had agreed on a €10million deal with Real Madrid to sign Fernando Morientes in 2002, only to call back Jorge Valdano (then Real Madrid sporting director) to ask him if the fee can be paid over ten instalments.
Valdano was said to be so furious at the suggestion that he hung up the phone and the deal collapsed.
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As some people who have worked with Levy point out in The Athletic article, his negotiating tactics usually work when we have all the aces up our sleeve and are trying to get the best price for a player. However, they fail alarmingly often when the club are in a disadvantaged position like they are when trying to sign a highly sought-after asset.
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