Daniel Levy protests: Will Tottenham boss leave amid fan protests?

Various reports in recent years have estimated Tottenham’s value at between £3.5 billion and £4 billion.

Chelsea were bought in a deal worth up to £4.25bn from Roman Abramovich in 2022 by a consortium led by US investor Todd Buhle and private equity firm Clearlake Capital. The purchase price was £2.5 billion, with a commitment to spend £1.75 billion over the next ten years.

Meanwhile, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos bought a 25% stake in Manchester United for £1.03bn in December 2023 in a process that included a rival bid from Sheikh Jassim of Qatar, said to be close to £5bn, to buy 100% of the club.

Despite these huge sums, both clubs – unlike Tottenham – need significant investment in their stadiums to unleash the potential for greater commercial profits.

According to the first source, the period in which Tottenham were building their new £1.2bn stadium, between 2017 and 2019, meant Levy was “completely expendable” and the board “left everyone to do their job”.

Tottenham claimed Champions League football under Mauricio Pochettino for four successive seasons until 2018-19 – losing in the 2019 final to Liverpool.

This source noted that Levy’s approach – i.e. “open to conversations but specific in his ways” – meant that plenty of people with off-field experience had left Spurs over the years for more influential jobs.

Paul Barber was CEO between 2005 and 2010 and is now CEO of Brighton. Michael Edwards was Tottenham’s chief analyst from 2009 to 2011 before leaving for Liverpool. FA technical director John McDermott was Tottenham’s head of academy and player development until 2020; While Premier League CEO Trevor Burch was – very briefly – Director of Football Operations at Tottenham, from September 2020 to January 2021.

It could be said that many of these highly-rated executives enjoyed good careers at Tottenham before simply moving on – but the source claims they “left the building too easily”.

Another source who worked closely with Levy at Tottenham, again speaking anonymously, noted that he had provided a “core infrastructure that is probably the best in the world” and suggested that would give the club “a great foundation for future success – perhaps beyond Daniel’s time.”

They said it took Arsenal between 10 and 15 years to get back into the title hunt and regularly qualify for the Champions League after they rebuilt their infrastructure, with Levy inheriting a dilapidated stadium, an old training ground and an aging squad.

However, the source noted that Levy has yet to get the ‘right formula’ by employing the right coach with the right players at the same time.