West Ham’s vice-chairman Karren Brady has heaped huge praise on Tottenham chief Daniel Levy.
Spurs travel to the London Stadium on Saturday to face the Hammers in the Premier League and Mauricio Pochettino’s side will be looking to continue their 100 per cent away record this season.
Brady has offered her opinion on Spurs chairman Levy and has credited him for the running of the club.
The 55-year-old has become renowned for being a shrewd businessman that has refused to be drawn into colossal spending in the transfer window, but has managed to help the North London club rise into one of England’s top sides.
“While Spurs have been tenacious in hanging on to star players they have also extracted huge sums in transfers — Gareth Bale’s £85million move to Real Madrid was a masterclass in salesmanship by Daniel Levy,” Brady wrote in the Sun. “With the massive rise in TV money, few clubs should any longer be forced by their bank debts to sell off what amounts to the family silver.
“Whereas receipts were constantly on Arsene Wenger’s mind when Arsenal were building their new stadium, Spurs chairman Levy says rebuilding White Hart Lane for £800m will not affect Pochettino’s spending. Further evidence that Levy is unquestionably the canniest dealer in the pack is available from a check on summer transfer business.”
Spurs are a long way off the spending power of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, but have a team to rival them under Pochettino.
The likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier are part of a strong English core who cost very little to bring in.
Meanwhile, they managed to sell Kyle Walker to Man City for £50million in the summer and his £23million replacement Serge Aurier from Paris Saint-Germain already seems like being a very strong piece of business.
OPINION
Spurs have managed to put themselves in a brilliant position and Levy’s shrewd tactics must be admired to a certain extent. However, they will only get the club so far and the emergence of the Manchester clubs this season is becoming a real dangers. Spurs may have to break their wage structure and business model if they are to seriously compete for silverware, which is the one thing missing from Pochettino’s time in North London.