Pochettino knows debt and history make Spurs a selling club
Another season with no silverware for Spurs. They’ve won nothing since 2008 – and then it was only the League Cup. But current manager Mauricio Pochettino has a plan. He wants chairman Daniel Levy to “take risks” to improve the side.
“If we want to be real contenders for big, big trophies, we need to review a little,” says Pochettino. “First of all, I need to speak with Daniel [Levy; the club’s chief executive], then we will know what we are going to do. I think it’s a moment the club needs to take risks and if possible work harder than the previous season to be competitive again.”
Work harder? Or just spend bigger?
Pochettino, 46, has been successful at Spurs. Since arriving at the club in 2014, Tottenham has finished fifth, third, second and third in the Premier League. Where next? It would take a revolution in Abu Dhabi for Spurs to make up the 23-point gap on Manchester City. The smarter money is on Pochettino leaving for Real Madrid. Pochettino, who has three years to run on his current deal, hinted at an early exit after his side’s FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester United, opining that the club “need more time with me or another”.
Now he adds: “I think I have a very clear idea what we need to do; I don’t know if the club will be agreeing with me or not. But we are going to talk, next week, to create the new project, or what I think what we need to do, together again, to try to improve. That is a little bit up to Daniel of course, to the club, to be happy with us, because after four years I think we need to assess that period. I think Daniel is going to listen to me. But you know me and sometimes I have some crazy ideas. In this type of situation, with a club with our unbelievable fans, being brave is the most important, and to take risks.”
And then there’s that new ground, which has risen in cost from £400m to £750m to £850m and now to – and this is according to the Daily Mail – almost £1bn. The new municipal 61,000-seat stadium will host football and NFL matches with two sliding pitches, ‘extra changing rooms’ and tailgate parties. It sounds awful. Three banks have approved five-year loans of £350m. Any outstanding debt after the five-year period will be refinanced or placed into bonds.
And on top of that the manager wants big money for big names. He wants be be able to outbid Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. When Spurs move in to their sponsored stadium, “It would be the time to say: ‘Now, we will win the title’,” said Pochettino last December. Fast forward to April and the manager had changed his tune. “The move to the new stadium is not suddenly going to change everything and millions of pounds will rain from the sky,” Pochettino said. “You have to manage and know exactly the expectations. It will be important to review and set the principles again – how it will be with the team once we move.”
Now he wants the owners to take “risks”.
Pochettino knows Spurs will have go sell if they want to buy. And those wages? Levy earns £115,000-a-week at Spurs – more than the club’s best-paid player, whose wages are capped at £100,000-a-week. Spurs have been linked with a move for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, who earns more than £120,000 a week at the Eagles. How long will Harry Kane be content playing for a third of what he could earn at Manchester United, say, where he’d stand better chance of winning things?
Spurs have a plan. But they’re playing catch-up – and their bigger rivals all have a head start…
Posted: 14th, May 2018 | In: Sports, Spurs Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
