Levy’s long game at Tottenham is about to pay off in a big way

Spurs under Ange Postecoglou are too fun to watch for fans to still be mad at Daniel Levy during games. But if you look just below the surface on social media or talk to enough fans, you can find anger toward the chairman.

There is still a lot of anger about how expensive tickets are, how bad business and sports choices have been in the past, and how Spurs have only won one prize in 23 years under Levy.

A lot of people who don’t trust Levy think that he hasn’t and will never allow Spurs to spend enough money to properly fight with the best teams in the world.

Today, though, Everton and Nottingham Forest are being charged with breaking the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR), and a few other top-flight clubs are worried about their own finances. It’s time to admit that Levy’s strategy is working for Spurs.

As of now, they are the only top-flight team to have spent anything close to a lot of money this month—£26 million on defender Radu Dragusin—and they plan to buy a player before the end of the month.

Newcastle’s Eddie Howe says that the club doesn’t have “the freedom” to sign players like Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke because of PSR, but Aston Villa’s Unai Emery says that they need to sell before they can buy. Tottenham, on the other hand, don’t seem to care about these issues.

The north London club had good financial success in 2021–22, and they are on track with PSR for the next year’s books.

Tottenham sold their best player, Harry Kane, to Bayern Munich for £100 million in the summer. This helped a lot, but years of smart money management have put them in a strong situation.

They haven’t spent more than they have, which has made fans angry, and they are the only team in the Premier League whose costs are less than half of their income.

It is well known that Levy wants to limit how much money teams spend. In February 2023, the same week that the Premier League charged Manchester City with 115 offences for past financial problems, Levy praised “the changes to the governance of the game which will compel greater financial sustainability and financial fair play.”

Pep Guardiola, City’s head coach, basically called Levy out as a behind-the-scenes pusher for more rules because of City’s long list of offenses.

At the time, Guardiola said, “Ask the chairman, the CEOs, and Daniel Levy.” “These 19 Premier League clubs have set a standard.” “Be careful with what they did to us.”

Some of City’s rivals who pushed for them to be punished may get what they deserve, but probably not Spurs. As long as Levy is in charge, Spurs will almost certainly spend less than they earn, which will keep them within the current financial rules in Europe and at home.

Because of this, a club can now get what they want from competitors in the market.

Not by chance, Spurs are likely to play a big role in both Everton and Forest’s defenses when they go to court this week to fight their charges.

Everton is likely to make the ridiculous case that they could have gotten an extra £20 million from Spurs for Richarlison in the summer of 2022 if they weren’t in such a hurry to raise money. On the other hand, Forest say they wouldn’t have broken PSR if they had sold Brennan Johnson to Brentford in June.

Richarlison and Johnson were both wanted for the same reason that Spurs have been interested in Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher for a long time: Levy knows that the best places to find value in the English market are in good players at rival teams that need to sell to balance their books.

Newcastle and Villa may say that PSR only helps the established top clubs, which limits individuals’ goals and strengthens the “big six” club cartel.

Levy, on the other hand, can say that Tottenham hasn’t always been one of England’s top teams this century. Spurs have gotten to this point in the food chain by spending wisely over many years.

Fans of rival teams will be happy to point out that the Financial Fair Play League doesn’t have a prize. If it did, Spurs would probably be the favorites every season.

Many fans of other teams would love to be in Spurs’ shoes right now, though—not worried about getting fined and eager to spend a lot of money—which shows that Levy’s strategy is working.

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