Report reveals maximum Spurs can currently spend under FFP rules – More than any PL club

A report from the Daily Mail has revealed that Tottenham are able to spend the most on transfers out of every Premier League side under the current Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. 

The study, conducted by Kieran Maguire, a football finance lecturer at the University of Liverpool, analysed the spending capacities of each club in the English top-flight and how much ‘wiggle room’ they can currently be afforded to stay within the strict limits. 

It revealed that Tottenham are currently best placed to spend of all the Premier League clubs and could use up to £400 million and still be able to adhere to the FFP cap. 

It comes with the club’s relatively modest approach to player spending compared to the rest of the league’s ‘Big Six’, as well as increasing profits over the last few seasons and completion of the new stadium. 

The figure is double than that of Arsenal (£201m) and considerably more than the likes of Liverpool (£273m), Manchester United (£243m) and Chelsea (£241m). 

The findings also unveiled that Spurs boast a pre-tax profit of £401 million between 2010 and 2020 which was comfortably more than Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd, while Chelsea and Man City put up large losses in that period.

Reacting to Tottenham’s sum, Maguire said: “Spurs’ net transfer spend since 2010 is between a quarter and a half of the other Big Six clubs and it is the most successful club in terms of keeping its wages low as a proportion of income the club generates. 

“Spurs have had a business model rather than a trophy-winning model.

“They have got the ability to spend in this transfer window provided they can get the funding for it. Whether that comes from ENIC, they go to the market if they have the cash.

“Daniel Levy has run the club as a business superbly, but if you view it as more than a business then it’s not superb. The gap between Spurs and the bigger clubs has been maintained. If Spurs are happy to be sixth, then fine.”

Full Financial Fair Play ‘wiggle room’ table 

1. Tottenham – £400m
2. Liverpool – £273m 
3. Manchester United – £243m 
4. Chelsea – £241m 
5. Arsenal – £201m
6. Burnley – £171m 
7. Newcastle – £166m 
8. Leeds – £99m 
9. Norwich – £92m
10. Brentford – £88m 
11. Brighton – £85m 
12. Manchester City – £84m 
13. Leicester – £79m 
14. West Ham – £71m 
15. Wolves – £70m 
16. Crystal Palace – £66m 
17. Watford – £60m 
18. Southampton – £37m 
19. Aston Villa – £5m 
20. Everton – -£35m 

Spurs Web Opinion 

It isn’t too shocking to see Spurs right up there, as the business model has been a strong aspect of the club for a while now. But we need to start translating the off pitch success on the pitch, and that needs to be done with spending, which hopefully will start to come a bit easier now. 

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