Exclusive: Tottenham fund ‘costly’ cycle under Levy after Postecoglou, Frank fees
Tottenham have spent significant sums on hiring and firing managers but those moves have been paid for by Daniel Levy’s financial successes.
That is according to football finance expert Dan Plumley, who explained to Football Insider that new managers, and firing the old ones, is a “costly business”.
Football Insider revealed on 1 June that Tottenham were planning to sack Ange Postecoglou, and the club formally announced that decision on 6 June [Tottenham].
Despite claiming the Europa League crown with a 1-0 win over Man United, and with it qualification for Champions League football, the Australian’s domestic failure was ultimately his downfall.
Thomas Frank has been hired to replace Postecoglou, with the Dane’s track record in the Premier League an attractive proposition for Spurs.
But bringing the former Brentford manager to North London will not be a cheap endeavour, as MailOnline revealed the ex-Bees boss has a release clause of £10million.
Coupling that with the £4m Tottenham paid Postecoglou in compensation to leave the club [The Mirror], Levy spent £14m on managerial changes.
Tottenham’s ‘overall revenue picture’ pays for managerial changes
Kieran Maguire described Tottenham as the Premier League’s best-run business, and he is not alone in doing so.
But despite their success financially, the club have made a habit of spending significant sums to hire and fire managers in recent seasons.
Despite the significant outlays on coaches recently, finance expert Plumley exclusively told Football Insider that the club’s “overall revenue picture” would make it easy for Spurs to “absorb some of that cost”.
He said: “It’s always that kind of risk and reward argument, I think you balance those risks as a football club owner.
“You know that your managerial appointments are key to what’s going to happen on the pitch, and you do run that risk of knowing also that you’re in an environment where sometimes managers will be sacked.
“And that might come with compensation fees, or release clauses to get new managers out of contracts, it’s a costly business.
“I do think you factor that in from a risk point of view, and obviously, this one’s not worked out the way they wanted it to, and there are a couple of others that we could cite previously.
“Clubs have gotten into the habit of paying significant fees out for sacking managers and Spurs will be an example of that.
“I do think you’ve got to look at that in terms of the overall revenue picture of the club as well and being able to absorb some of that cost.”
Daniel Levy factors Tottenham takeover into Frank, Postecoglou decisions
Whilst the initial outlay on hiring and firing managers may seem expensive, Plumley told Football Insider that Levy had “one eye” on a potential Qatari takeover when making his decision.
The senior lecturer from Sheffield Hallam University explained that the man in charge was a factor in the club’s attractiveness to potential investors.
Levy’s decision to move Tottenham to a new home in 2019 was also a major factor in the club’s valuation, with Spurs ranked as the world’s ninth most valuable club by Football Benchmark.