Although there is no love lost among the Tottenham Hotspur faithful for former CEO Daniel Levy, who was deposed shortly after the summer 2025 transfer window, the reality is that Spurs are even worse off without him. Case in point: At least Levy had the foresight to prepare the club in case of relegation, whereas his successor couldn't even plan for Thomas Frank failing.
According to a report from the best Premier League transfer insider there is, David Ornstein, Levy had already planned for the possibility of Tottenham suffering relegation. In each of the contracts at Spurs, there is a clause stipulating a salary decrease of about 50 percent in the vast majority of cases if Spurs were to be relegated. Ornstein reports that Levy made sure to include a relegation clause of some sort in each Tottenham contract as a financial safeguard against relegation.
On the one hand, it isn't exactly reassuring that Levy predicted all along that Tottenham would be at risk of relegation. On the other hand, it is far better to be prepared than to be caught offguard, and considering Tottenham finished 17th in the Premier League last season, it was a good thing Levy came prepared. Surely, Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham, left to their own devices, would have just let Tottenham crumble into worse financial peril.
Daniel Levy has relegation clauses in Tottenham contracts
And although Ange Postecoglou's few truthers like to say that Tottenham only finished 17th because they did not care about the league anyway, Spurs were woeful under Big Ange in the league and ranked 17th because they were truly that terrible. As anyone can plainly see this season, that fact has been proven.
Tottenham still have plenty of time left to save themselves under Igor Tudor, though if their latest horrendous losses to local rivals Arsenal and Fulham are anything to go off of, Spurs can count their blessings that they are still four points above West Ham United in the relegation battle.
Spurs are in a dark period of their history right now, even after winning the Europa League last season, and things could get grim. Levy was an albatross on the club and a big reason why Tottenham are in the position they are in today - it's not all on Vinai and Lange, after all, the rot has seeped for years - but, again, at least he wasn't foolish enough to walk into a season unprepared with no contingency plan for the worst case.