Daniel Levy loses Tottenham stake after rejecting transfer plan - Insider
Daniel Levy turned down the chance to contribute towards Tottenham Hotspur's significant summer spending on their playing squad.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Lilywhites' former executive chairman made a "very conscious decision" not to participate in their latest share issue.
The businessman asked for multiple extended deadlines in order to raise funds, but ultimately didn't contribute, with his stake in the club diluted as a result.
Wyness believes that Levy's position behind the scenes has now been "weakened," as the saga surrounding the potential sale of his shares continues to rumble on.
Eight Sport Capital announced that they had agreed a deal to buy his 24.99 per cent stake over three months ago, but there has still been little to no progress made towards the sale.
Tottenham's latest share issue called upon their owners to raise money for the club, but Levy ultimately did not get involved.
Daniel Levy had the money to fund Tottenham
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Levy could easily have found the money for the share issue, but didn't even attempt to in the end.
Spurs have spent over £350million on new signings this summer, but none of that funding came from Levy, despite him still being a shareholder.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained the process that the share issue went through.
"When you're asked to raise money as a shareholder, you're asked to do it in the ratio to which you own shares. So Levy had 29 per cent of the shares. So he would have been expected to come up with 29 per cent of the extra money that was being asked for," he said.
"He chose not to do that. And what that means is those that do put in the money, your percentage therefore drops. And so he'll be down somewhere like 25 or 24 per cent.
"What it means is his strength of a position in terms of being able to block things is definitely weakened. All he has now is really just a financial asset of holding a high minority percentage of Spurs' shares, which of course is a significant asset.
"There are lots of people in the market looking to buy minority shares. I think he could have probably found the money had he wished to, but he's chosen to just take that back seat and hold on to the shares.
"Daniel's just made that very conscious decision not to do it."
The transfer will initially be a season-long loan deal, but also contains the option for the Italian giants to buy the 23-year-old for £26m.
Sarr has been heavily linked with a move away from North London in recent weeks, as he is not part of Roberto De Zerbi's long-term plans.
Everton and Nottingham Forest have both explored moves, but it is Juventus who are now set to win the race.