Tottenham face shattering '£75m' blow as 'revenue machine' starts to 'slip'
Tottenham Hotspur could lose up to £75million on their next front-of-shirt sponsorship deal if they fail to agree one in the coming months.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Lilywhites' hopes of landing a £50m-a-year deal next summer are dwindling by the week.
Spurs are set to see their long-term partnership with AIA expire at the end of the campaign, meaning they will have to face up to what has become an increasingly difficult market for clubs to navigate.
Wyness believes that Tottenham are already at the stage where they may only be able to land a deal worth £35m each year, given how poorly they have performed on the pitch.
Roberto De Zerbi's side have begun the new Premier League with a six-game winless run, and their poor form has shown little sign of turning around.
The club have seen their progress slip on the pitch in recent years, and it is finally starting to hurt their commercial department as well.
Tottenham need Roberto De Zerbi 'magic' to save valuation
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 Tottenham now need De Zerbi to work his magic in order to preserve the value of their front-of-shirt space.
The Scottish businessman is adamant that it will take a dramatic upturn in form between now and Christmas for the club to secure anything close to what they are hoping for from their next sponsorship.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained that the "revenue machine" at Spurs is now starting to "slip."
"We also talked about Liverpool getting Turkish Airlines coming in at £60m a season. Now Spurs would have hoped to have gone up from the present sponsor to something about £50m," he said.
"In the end, I think they will get a front-of-shirt sponsor, but I think it may be something even as low as the £35m mark as opposed to £50m.
"Over five years, you're looking at £75m worth of difference. And so that whole high point of revenue in the big Spurs revenue machine could be starting to slip already. And it's going to take something to get it back.
"Now, if they hit form and by Christmas they're challenging again for Europe, brilliant. But we all know that for that to happen, De Zerbi is going to have to produce some magic.
"But overall, the whole feeling around the club has got to change if you're going to negotiate that sort of quality of sponsor and at the right price."
Tottenham believe they have 'next Cole Palmer'
Former Tottenham scout Bryan King told Football Insider on Sunday that Tottenham staff members have compared young forward Luca Williams-Barnett to Chelsea star Cole Palmer behind the scenes.
The 18-year-old featured heavily in De Zerbi's pre-season plans, but has since played just a handful of minutes in the Carabao Cup.
King believes that the time is right for Williams-Barnett to head out on loan, and begin gaining exposure at senior level elsewhere.
He feels that the attacking midfielder has a huge future ahead of him at Tottenham, but feels that he is now ready to spend time in an environment that will challenge him more than U21 football.