During Covid times when the Premier League’s chief executives and chairmen used to meet remotely via Zoom to talk about the many problems associated with lockdown and football behind closed doors, there was a running joke between a couple of them.
‘When stadiums were slowly opening up with reduced capacities we had to decide who to allocate tickets to first,’ one executive told me.
‘We talked about key workers and things like that. And the gag was that Daniel Levy would welcome his corporates back before anyone else.’
And that’s the thing about Levy. He’s fair game for those who like to suggest he cares only about money, that he doesn’t have a heart that beats like a football fan, that to him it’s always been about the business and not the glory. The Tottenham chairman has been an easy target for the cheap gags and the criticism firstly because he never answers back and secondly because some of it has always been true.
For Levy has always run his football club like a business. He hasn’t thrown money around on players. He hasn’t sought popularity with his supporters by wildly signing big names and he hasn’t looked to keep his managers happy by giving him free reign every time a transfer window opened.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been mocked for years for not throwing money at players
Tottenham are now a joy to watch on the pitch, and Levy’s decision are starting to pay off
Mail Sport columnist Ian Ladyman believes Levy is now laughing at those that have questioned him over the years
And now we are here. January 2024. The transfer window that saw some chickens come home to roost for Premier League football clubs. A time when even clubs like Manchester United cannot spend because of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules and because of mistakes and poor judgements made in the past. When an outfit like Chelsea wonders to itself just how so much money was spent on so little of worth.
Yes, January 2024. The window when all of a sudden it looks as though Levy and Tottenham may have known what they were doing all along.
Tottenham are fourth in the Premier League. They have a bright manager in Ange Postecoglou and a promising team that looks set for a shoot-out for the fourth Champions League spot with Aston Villa. That’s if they don’t also catch rivals Arsenal in third.
And off the field, Tottenham are making money like never…