On the latest episode of the Last Word on Spurs podcast, Ricky Sacks and Lee McQueen were joined by football finance expert Kieran Maguire to discuss the finances at Tottenham Hotspur.
One topic of discussion on the recent episode, which was titled: ‘Tottenham Hotspur – Behind the Finances’ – was the North London club’s spending since the Premier League began in 1992.
The Lilywhites have gained a reputation as cautious spenders, especially since ENIC and Daniel Levy became majority shareholders of the club back in 2000, and Maguire was quick to identify the extent of Spurs’ spending in the past 28 years.
Here’s what he had to say about Spurs’ spending in relation to other Premier League sides on the podcast:
“Spurs’ total spending on players in terms of both transfers and wages since they started the Premier League in 1992, is £2.4 billion, and that puts them sixth in the table.
“I think you’d probably expect them to be sixth in the table but the frightening thing is Arsenal are fifth, and Spurs are closer to the clubs such as Southampton, Leicester and Sunderland than they are to Arsenal in terms of spending. That is a scary thought.
“I think Spurs are not quite at the next level financially and there’s still a way to go.
“What the club owners have done is they have done the groundwork to allow the club to make that progression, but they are still not ever going to be Manchester United or Liverpool in terms of the ability to sell shirts.”
TIF Thoughts…
Maguire certainly seems to think that Spurs have not quite progressed to the next level in terms of spending, although it is perhaps not that surprising that the Lilywhites are far off the likes of Arsenal since 1992, as it is arguably only in the last decade or so that they have established themselves as top-four and Champions League regulars.
Are you surprised to hear the news on Spurs' spending?
Yes
No
Lilywhites supporters will no doubt be hoping that now the club has seemingly laid down the groundwork for a positive future, spending will perhaps increase in the next few years to give them a decent chance of challenging at the top of the league again, although as we have arguably seen with the signing of Tanguy Ndombele last summer, spending a lot of money doesn’t always guarantee success.