Son Heung-Min of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and teammates after scoring ... [+]
Tottenham Hotspur have returned to the Champions League after a two-year absence, and this time they intend to stay there.
To help them do that, Tottenham’s main shareholder ENIC Group plans to inject $188 million into the club. Fans shouldn’t get too excited by thoughts of Spurs signing a series of superstars — $188 million doesn’t go that far in today’s transfer market — but this extra investment comes at just the right time to help push the club forward.
Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-0 win over Arsenal earlier in May could be a “Sliding Doors” moment for the two clubs. Had Arsenal won and finished fourth, then Spurs would have missed out on the Champions League. Arsenal’s young squad will keep getting stronger over the next few seasons, but Champions League revenues could have given it that extra boost so that the Gunners could start competing again with the top clubs. Spurs on the other hand would have almost certainly lost their manager Antonio Conte and possibly one of their superstar forwards Harry Kane or Son Heung-min.
As it is, Spurs are the side in the Champions League after a strong finish to the season with their January signings excelling.
The nature of those deals means Spurs still need to pay around $50 million to make Cristian Romero’s loan signing permanent this summer, as well as paying a loan fee this year and (most likely) a transfer fee next year for Dejan Kulusevski.
Debt from the construction of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the impact of the pandemic mean that money is relatively tight at the club, so the $188 million cash injection is needed to allow Spurs to really compete in the transfer market against the other top Premier League sides.
ENIC, the investment company owned by Joe Lewis and Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy, is not like Manchester City’s owners or Roman Abramovich when he was funding Chelsea and this kind of cash injection is basically unprecedented during its ownership of the club. What’s in it for ENIC? As well as bringing in extra revenue, that regular Champions League spot could increase the value of the club significantly, giving ENIC a strong return on its investment.
Some of the money being pumped into the club might be needed to cover those previous January signings, and once wages and extra fees are included, $150 million doesn’t buy as many players as some might think. But given the success of the club’s January recruitment, there are signs that the money will be spent wisely to bring in a few players that will improve the squad and give a bit more depth so that Spurs can compete on multiple fronts next season.
With a much smaller wage bill than the other top sides, Spurs can also spend this money without worrying too much about Financial Fair Play rules.
Antonio Conte's points per game record for Tottenham Hotspur is as good as Chelsea's if viewed over ... [+]
Head coach Antonio Conte completely turned Spurs’ fortunes around last season. If his Premier League record at Spurs is applied to a 38-game season, then the club would have finished above Chelsea. Keeping Conte is almost as important as keeping Son and Kane, and a decent-sized transfer kitty will be a big incentive to persuade Conte to stay in north London.
In the long-term, Spurs’ new stadium will bring in huge revenues, which if combined with success on the pitch, will give the club more financial muscle than it had in the past. But key to that are regular appearances in the Champions League.
Tottenham’s Champions League qualification has given them a window of opportunity. Kane and Son are right at their peak of their careers so Spurs need to make the most of their talents right now. If they do this right, they could consolidate a top-four spot.
Arsenal’s first team squad will improve in the future and Newcastle United’s new-found wealth means there is an extra team likely to be pushing for the Champions League spots in the coming seasons. If Spurs can finish in the Champions League spots again this season, then two years of that extra income and prestige will give them a chance to create a bit of a gap between them and Arsenal and Newcastle, which could snowball with each extra season in Europe’s top club competition making it harder for these teams to catch up.
Miss out on the Champions League though, and Spurs could be overtaken by those clubs, who will be competing with Spurs for the same players.
That’s why Tottenham Hotspur’s owners have decided that now is the time to spend more on the Spurs squad so the club has the best possible chance of locking down one of those Champions League spots.
