London’s highest revenue generating club need to dip into transfer market
By Gary Pearson
With help from the Champions League final, Tottenham Hotspur are once again the highest revenue generating club in London.
Monetarily speaking, Spurs are, forgetting for a second about their commitment to repay their £1 billion stadium, are in a solid financial position. For the first time since 1996/97, Spurs are king in London. According to Deloitte, Tottenham earned £521.1 million in revenue in 2018-19, putting them in eight place on the Deloitte Football Money League table. Unsurprisingly Barcelona, who earned £840.8 million, sit atop that prestigious list.
Manchester United (£711.5 million), Manchester City (£610.6 million), and Liverpool (£604.7) all finished above Spurs. But most importantly, Tottenham finished above Chelsea and Arsenal.
Club revenue is based on three main factors: matchday, commercial and broadcast. Stable and financially sound, Daniel Levy must now use some of the club’s incoming riches to dip into the transfer market for high-profile targets. It’s the only way Spurs will ensure they don’t start losing prominence on Deloitte Football Money League table.
I’m not forgetting about Tottenham’s massive commitment to repay their state of the art new stadium. But for Spurs to remain amongst the world’s apex predators, they must bring in a few marquee players with immediacy, especially considering the team’s current injury woes.
First on the hit list has to be Bruno Fernandes, who is keen on moving to north London. Fernandes will be Spurs-bound if the club pays Sporting’s £55-£65 million asking price. Sweeten the deal by sending Juan Foyth and get it done. In the long run, the exorbitant money spent will come back in revenue once we secure yet another top four spot. But the likelihood of doing that without reinforcements diminishes considerably.
While landing Gedson Fernandes is a step in the right direction, he won’t be enough to assuage fears at the club. Spurs need to make another two high profile signings.
Landing Bruno should be the club’s highest priority. They should then turn their attention to Gabriel Barbosa, who could, for £25 million, be destined for Tottenham.
Hoping their current crop of fit players are good enough to maintain their revenue stream would be tantamount to negligence. But a couple of signings would immediately restore belief that Spurs can maintain their impressive standing amongst the highest revenue generating clubs in world football.
And based on how quickly the club has ascended on that list, it’s a pretty impressive feat.