Exclusive: Danny Mills stunned by Tottenham after shock announcement
Danny Mills insisted Tottenham risk heavy public scrutiny if they are seen spending any of the £175million they have loaned from the Bank of England on transfers.
The former Leeds and Manchester City full-back, speaking exclusively to Football Insider correspondent Dylan Childs, was baffled by the news and suggested it was the latest in a series of “weird” financial decisions at the club.
A club statement confirmed that a £175million loan, repaid at 0.5% interest, would be taken out from the Bank of England to help combat the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Spurs are projecting that their losses could exceed £200million as a result of this period as their one-year-old state of the art stadium will be empty for the foreseeable future.
The Londoners made a pre-tax profit of £82.3million for the year ended 30 June 2019 and a record £460.7m revenue.
When asked by Football Insider if spending in the transfer market was now highly unlikely, Mills said: “Football finances are weird.
“Spurs announced record profits but they are still yet to pay off their stadium. They were one of the first clubs to furlough their staff but obviously they reversed that decision.
“Now they need nearly £200million from the Bank of England and we wonder why football finances are all in a mess. None of it seems to make any sense.
“If you are borrowing at such a low interest rate from the Bank of England and you start spending that money on transfers – public opinion is going to be very against you.”
Spurs Chairman, Daniel Levy, said: “We have always run this Club on a self-sustaining commercial basis.
“I said as early as 18 March that, in all my 20 years at the Club, there have been many hurdles along the way but none of this magnitude – the COVID-19 pandemic has shown itself to be the most serious of them all.”
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