Stefan Borson: This is how Tottenham may spend their owners’ £100m injection
Tottenham’s owners have strengthened their commitment to the club after injecting £100million.
Tottenham announced on 9 October the equity injection from ENIC – the club’s majority shareholders – will equip the leadership team with additional resources to continue the focus on driving long-term sporting success.
ENIC owns an 86.91 per cent stake in Spurs, while former executive chairman Daniel Levy and members of his family hold a 29.88 per cent share in the British investment company, and Joe Lewis’s family trust own the remaining 70.12 per cent.
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Tottenham are trying to “spin it” the investment is a key development.
There has been plenty of speculation surrounding a Tottenham takeover since Levy’s departure was confirmed on 4 September, but the owners have insisted the club is not for sale.
Tottenham have ‘substantial’ bills to pay
Tottenham’s new leadership team, which is spearheaded by non-executive chairman Peter Charrington and CEO Vinai Venkatesham, will now decide which areas the money will be spent on strengthening.
Football Insider revealed on 9 October the injection will largely cover Tottenham’s day-to-day operations, ensuring more cash is available without having to borrow further.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest investment, Borson said: “I think it’s pretty unexciting. I mean, they’re trying to spin it as being a sort of new key development, but Spurs’ owners have had to put equity in over the last few years just to pay the bills.
“Spurs, although they are one of the more successful clubs financially, they do have bills. They do have a big wage bill, not as big as it should be probably, but it’s still probably running at about £250m a year, so they do have substantial running costs. It’s not a hugely profitable business.”
A US consortium led by tech entrepreneur Brooklyn Earick made an approach to buy Spurs in recent weeks.
Tottenham responded to the takeover approach after releasing a statement insisting they had “unequivocally rejected” an informal expression of interest from Earick, who has now confirmed he will not be making a formal bid.
Thomas Frank’s could get budget boost after Tottenham injection
There have been suggestions the latest injection from ENIC could go towards strengthening Thomas Frank’s side in the January transfer window.
“They do have commitments on player signings because their transfer debts are significant and, therefore, the payments that are going to be due over the next few months are significant,” said Borson.
“They don’t have huge numbers of players that they’ve been selling over the last period, so of course they’re going to need cash just to pay the bills and it may be as well that they want to have a little bit of flexibility for January as well.
“It could be maybe a quarter of that £100m just to give them a little bit of cash flow as we go into January. None of it’s a surprise, and it’s a very modest amount of money.”
Tottenham have the fifth-highest revenue in the Premier League, with their latest published accounts revealing a turnover of £528m for 2023-24.
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