Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been given a shock warning behind the scenes by officials that the club might have to commit to playing at Wembley for the rest of this season, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim that Spurs have taken up an option with the Football Association to extend their stay at the national stadium with an agreement runs until their Premier League match against Burnley on 15 December.
The Mail report the agreement with the governing body is costing Tottenham a six-figure sum worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, although Levy regards it as a “safety net” and is confident the team will be playing at the new ground by mid-December.
OPINION
If Levy did not already have a smooth pate, the endless Spurs stadium delays would have surely seen him tearing his hair out on a daily basis. The chairman’s stance is that he is confident Mauricio Pochettino’s side will be taking the field at the 62,000-seat magnificent new stadium before the year is out. Other key stakeholders are not so sure, and who can blame them? The stadium was supposed to be ready by now, but Spurs have been forced to rely on the goodwill of the Premier League, Uefa and the Football Association in making continued use of Wembley for far longer than they would have hoped. It is embarrassing and the costs are escalating. It is also unfair on supporters, both their own and those at other clubs, opposition teams and broadcasters. It has not yet reached the tipping point where the Premier League intervene and order Spurs to play all their home matches at Wembley this season but more delays could force such dramatic action.