The chairman’s statement accompanying the latest Spurs accounts is brief and much less upbeat than last year. Even though Levy’s comments are brief, it does not mean that they are devoid of content.
The most eye-catching part comes when he issued a passionate
defence of the club’s operating model, hitting back at the argument that
Tottenham should simply start shovelling money at the transfer market if they
are to make progress on the pitch. This has been a constant criticism of Levy,
not least earlier this season when thousands of fans marched in protest
against him before the 1-0 win against Manchester United on February 16.
“Profit before glory” has become one of the most widespread criticisms of the
way the club is run.
Tottenham are certainly attuned to this point: Levy makes
clear in Monday’s message that in the six years since the new stadium opened,
the club “have invested over £700m net in player acquisitions”. And it is
certainly true that Tottenham have committed more big fees on players in the
past few years than they ever used to.
But fees are one thing and salaries are another. When
Deloitte published its latest Football Money League report in January this
year, it revealed that Tottenham spent just 42 per cent of their revenue on
wages last season. According to Deloitte, Tottenham’s wage bill came down from
£251m for the 2022-23 season to £222m for 2023-24.
This means there is no more ‘Big Six’ when it comes to wages
in the Premier League. In fact, Tottenham ranked seventh last season, behind
Aston Villa, close to Newcastle United. Arsenal, who used to be close to Spurs,
spent over £100m more on wages last season. For many fans, this is where they
want the club to be bolder, especially given the way teams like Aston Villa and
Newcastle are overtaking Tottenham.
The key message from Levy here was to double down on the
club’s strategy. It might have been politically easier for him to promise to
push the boat out, to start relaxing the wage structure and aim higher in the
market, but he did nothing of the sort. The promise here is just the same
strategy, but executed better: “Smart purchases within our financial means”.
Most revealingly, Levy admits he is aware of the criticism
of the club’s parsimony in the market. “I often read calls for us to spend
more”, he says, “given that we are ranked as the ninth-richest club in the
world. However, a closer examination of today’s financial figures reveals that
such spending must be sustainable in the long term and within our operating
revenues.”
That does not sound like a man about to rip up his spending
plans for the summer. Of course, what the example of Tottenham demonstrates is
that PSR headroom (of which Spurs have a lot) is not the same thing as cash to
burn. Spurs’ revenues are strong but came down last season (from £549.6m to
£528.2m) because of no European football.
This is why the non-football revenues are so important. The
plan was always to reduce the risk that comes with over-reliance on what
happens on the pitch.
All of this means Tottenham are not going to spend their way
out of this year’s malaise. The current strategy — relying on the stadium to
increase revenues, spending within their means, trying to be clever in the
market — is here to stay. The only option if they want to avoid a repeat of
this season is to find a way to do it better.
Of course, things will look brighter if they win the Europa
League: a lot rests on that and it is a tough challenge for any club.
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