Finance expert issues verdict on Qatar ditching PSG and taking over Tottenham as billionaire outlines stance

For Tottenham fans disgruntled with what the direction that Daniel Levy and ENIC are taking their club, an oil-rich Gulf state might sound like the perfect succession plan.

Daniel Levy is the longest-serving chairman in the Premier League having been in his post sinಌce 2001. He is also almost always the most well remunerated on an annual basis.

The 62-year-old trousered £6.6m last term, which was comfortably the most lucrative package in the division. Since 2001, Levy has earned £51m from Spurs.

Those statistics, taken from a period when the club won one solitary League Cup, are ammunition for the secti𝓀on of bedrock fans who believe ENIC prioritise commercial success over silverware.

Cristiano Romero, who was inju𒉰red in the defeat against Chelsea, appears to share that view.

“Manchester City competes every year, you see how Liverpool strengthens its squad, Chelsea strengthens their squad, doesn’t do well, strengthens again, and now they’re seeing results. Those are the things to imitate,” he told Spanish media on Sunday, as quoted by .

“You have to realise that something is going wrong, hopefully, they [the board] realise it.”

“The last few years, it’s always the same – first the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it’s always the same people responsible.

“Hopefully they realise who the true responsible ones are and we move forward because it’s a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily be competing for the title every year.”

Romero was likely referring to Levy himself.

ENIC control the majority of the club’s equity and voting rights but have taken more of a passive role since🧸 Joe Lewis, the company’s London-born former CEO, was convicted for i✨nsider trading in 2023.

Romero may not be in N𝓰17 for too much longer in any case given Real Madrid’s interest in him, but a change of the club’s ownership structure could soon be on the cards.

Tottenham are looking for minority investment, with former Newcastle United supremo Amanda Staveley the current frontrunner having raised ꦗ£500m for a new football project via PCP Capital Partners.

In the past, several other groups have been linked with Tottenham, either in the form of a full or partial takeover. Perhaps the most evocative name that has come up is QSI, or Qatꦜar Sports Investments.

QSI are a sovereign wealth fund and owners of Paris Saint-Germain. Their president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is also head of the E🌜uropea🧜n Club Association (ECA) and a known ally of Daniel Levy.

Rumours have been swirling in recent months that Qatar is losing interest in PSG. This week, Al-Khelaifi addressed those, with potential impl🧜ications for Tottenham.

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QSI know ‘Premier League is where its at’ but UEFA rules an issue for Tottenham investment, says finance expert

Al-Khelaifi was widely ✱quoted as saying suggestions that QSI are looking for an exit route at Parc de Princes are wide of the mark.

But, as Liverpool University football finance lecturer and ꦇindustry insider Kieran Maguire point out, the ambitions of QSI are largely inscrutable and they will be aware the Premier League is the go-to market.

Speaking to TBR Football, Maguiღre poin🤡ted out that UEFA’s conflict of interest rules would make the transition from France to England tricky but not impossible.

“On the face of it, there is not much in it for QSI to have both PSG and Spurs because of the likelihood of both qualifying for the Champions League,” he said.

“That would cause an issue unless UEFA completely caved in. They have had to pinch their noses with regards to the blind trusts used by Sir Jim Ratcliffe to run Nice, his French club.

“Being head of the ECA means Al-Khelaifi has some power. Money helps too, of course.

“QSI’s issue is that there is limited scope for growth in Ligue 1. Domestically, do they have the resources to make PSG a club who can generate enough interest in Europe?

“Success in the Champions League is what they are looking for. They don’t care about Ligue 1.

“All their player brands – Mbappe, Messi, Neymar – have gone. I am sure they are thinking the Premier League is where it is at.

“But it would have to be a very delicate set of negotiations. You would have to get the sale and the purchase in the Premier League going through at broadly the same time from a compliance point of view.

• READ MORE: Daniel Levy ready to pull plug on ‘historic’ agreement amid Tottenham 𝔍stance on £6.7bn deal

Who else has been linked with Tottenham takeover?

Last week, controversial Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was linked with an outright takeover of Spu♓rs.

That would have made some sense given that the billionaire is currently in London and Tott🍬enham have strong connections to the NFL.

However, several sources have since denied that the 82-year-old has eꦗntertained the prospect of investing in the Premier League.

Previously, the rapper-turned-investor Jay-Z has been tentatively linked. Although he is a billionaire in his own right, that would almost certainly be as an ambassador for a wider consort✱ium.

TBR has been told that MSP Sports Capital, the group that recently tried and failed to buy Everton, have also conducted due ♔diligence with a view to a full takeover bid.

That, however, was some time🍒 ago. The current status of their interest is not known.

Liberty Media, the world’s most valuable ෴sports empire, are another name that has re🐬portedly expressed an interest.

Like Jones’ would-be investment, that would make sense. Tottenham have an excellent relationship with Formula On๊e, Liberty’s prize asset, thanks to the 15-year commercial deal the pair signed last👍 year.

But Liberty have only ever been mentioned in paᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚssing and, again, not for some time.

Staveley, it seems, remains the only investor wh🎐o is activel✤y and publicly engaged with Spurs.