Daniel Levy could continue as Tottenham Chairman in potential Qatari takeover | OneFootball

As reported by Matt Hughes of The Guardian, Daniel Levy may be offered the opportunity to stay on at Tottenham Hotspur by a Qatari-based consortium interested in buying the club.

The Guardian state that a group of Qatari investors want full control over the North London club, which could arise through a phased buyout mode. The reported plan would see Levy being offered a long-term management contract to run the club as executive chairman, even if current owners ENIC – which has been controlled by Joe Lewis’ family trust since 2002 – lose their majority 86.91% stake in Tottenham.

The English businessman has been subject of significant scrutiny from Spurs fans in recent weeks due to poor on-field performances and a perceived lack of investment in multiple transfer windows, with supporters heard chanting ‘Levy out’ during their side’s FA Cup loss at Aston Villa last weekend.

As such, Levy, who has been club chairman since 2001, staying on may be a controversial move among fans from potential buyers.

The reasoning behind this strategy would likely be due to Levy’s business acumen. The 63-year-old has developed the club into one of the highest-earning clubs in European football over recent years, opening a brand-new stadium in 2019 and subsequently increasing the club’s matchday and commercial revenues to record heights. For reference, as stated in ‘UEFA’s Finance and Investment Lansdcape’ in 2024, Spurs brought in approximately €92m per fan per match in the 2022/23 campaign, the second highest figure in Europe.

However, to the frustration of Spurs fans, investment has not followed the same trajectory, with Deloitte’s Football Money League showing that The Lilywhites attain the lowest wage-to-revenue ratio (42%) of any top European side.

Levy stated the club needed “a significant increase in its equity base” last year, consequently appointing financial services group Rothschild to advise on investment talks for a reported £3.75bn valuation.

Though, despite reports that former Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley had held talks over a potential offer with a middle eastern group last year, as well as interest from Iranian-American billionaire Jaham Najafi, no entity has currently met that valuation.

Further, although the exact identity of the interested Qatari bidders is not currently known, the Guardian has been informed these are private individuals, rather than the government-backed Qatar Sports Investment, who own Paris Saint Germain, or businessman Sheikh Jassim, who attempted to by Manchester United prior to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority investment in The Red Devils.

Talks over Tottenham’s ownership, and subsequent criticism from fans, will likely remain amid the side’s underwhelming on-field performances this season – having crashed out of both domestic cups in the last week, whilst also sitting 14th in the Premier League table.

Spurs’ next fixture comes at home to Ruben Amorim’s Man United this Sunday 16 February, in what could be a potential sliding-doors moment in the managerial future of both sides.

Travis Levison | Get Football