TOTTENHAM Hotspur could be the next club to come under Middle Eastern influence, but according to media reports, that may not be the end of Daniel Levy, the club’s current chairman. Levy may be part of the deal if he decides to sell to a Qatari investment group. Levy could be kept on to run the club or have an influential role in any new structure. Spurs have been valued at £ 3.75 billion, but the club’s performance has certainly eroded that price. Market watchers believe it may be less than £ 3 billion in the current climate. There are reports that Amanda Staveley, who brokered the Saudi purchase of Newcastle United, has been talking to Qatari investors about Tottenham. QSI, who own Paris Saint-Germain, have had talks in the past about naming rights of the Tottenham stadium. The news of a possible takeover will please some fans, but the anti-Levy contingent will be disappointed if new owners retain a man who has become increasingly unpopular.
THE FA Cup has reached the last 16 stage and 11 of the surviving clubs are from the Premier League. But leaders Liverpool have been eliminated, surprisingly beaten by Plymouth Argyle at Home Park. Plymouth’s reward for their giant-killing exploits is an away tie at Manchester City. This is one of three Premier-Championship pairings – the others include Crystal Palace versus Millwall, an interesting South London derby and Aston Villa versus Cardiff City. There is one all-Championship tie, Preston North End against Burnley. That leaves four all-Premier clashes: Bournemouth v Wolves, Newcastle v Brighton, Nottingham Forest v Ipswich and Manchester United v Fulham.
MANCHESTER United’s recalibration is proving to be a painful process. Jim Ratcliffe, who acquired 27% of the club and control of sporting operations, may be planning more redundancies. He has already triggered 250 lay-offs and there could be another 200 to come. While this will send the wrong type of signal to the United fanbase, there are rumours that Ratcliffe’s £ 300 million cash injection was vital to ensure the club did not run dangerously low of cash reserves. Ratcliffe, apparently, believes the job cuts will prevent United from going broke. United have made losses of £ 300 million over a three-year period. Questions are being asked about the style of management that has been introduced to United – Ratcliffe’s other football investments, Lausanne and Nice, have also encountered problems in the past.
THE LAST Merseyside derby at Goodison Park ended in a draw, but ugly incidents at the end marred what was a tremendous game at Everton’s old ground. James Tarkowski netted in the 98th minute of the game to bring the scores level at 2-2, but in the aftermath, Everton’s Adboulaye Doucouré goaded Liverpool’s fans. The Reds’ Curtis Jones square-up to Doucouré and in the melee, both were red-carded, along with Liverpool’s Arne Slot and his assistant. Liverpool remain seven points clear at the top, but they had earlier come from a goal down to lead 2-1.
HIBERNIAN admitted their recruitment policy was poor in 2023-24 as their financial statement revealed a pre-tax loss of £ 8.3 million for the season. Hibs saw their revenues rise from £ 12.4 million to £ 15.9 million, but the club spent around £ 3 million on upgrades at their Easter Road stadium. Hibernian’s wage bill rose to £ 12.7 million, representing 78% of income. They made a profit on player sales of £ 1 million, more than £ 2 million down on 2022-23. Hibernian finished eighth in the Scottish Premiership and reached the play-off round in the Europa Conference League in 2023-24.
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