The responsibilities of Tottenham’s new CEO, Vinai Venkatesham, have increased after Daniel Levy’s exit, and a new report has now shed light on how fundamental the former Spurs chairman was in appointing Venkatesham in the first place.
Out of the blue, Spurs announced on Thursday that Levy had stepped down from his role as executive chairman of Tottenham, a position which he has held for nearly two and a half decades.
According to reports, Levy was asked to resign rather than stepping down of his own accord, with the decision having been in the pipeline for many months.
In fact, some sources claim that the changes at the boardroom level, including the hiring of Venkatesham, were done with Levy’s exit in mind by the Lewis family.
Daniel Levy persuaded Vinai Venkatesham to join Tottenham
According to The Telegraph, Venkatesham originally turned down the offer to join as Tottenham’s CEO when he was first approached.
The 44-year-old allegedly felt that he had done all he had wished to in football during his time at the helm of Arsenal.
However, Levy did not take no as an answer and persuaded Venkatesham that a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would be the right one for him.
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It would thus be fair to assume that the new Spurs CEO was shocked when the man who brought him to the club was unceremoniously sacked just a few months after his appointment.
Many Premier League clubs were not willing to deal with Levy
According to some sources, another reason for the 63-year-old’s sacking is that many Premier League clubs had grown tired of negotiating with Levy by the end of the summer.
The former Spurs chairman’s desire to win every negotiation and the exhaustive nature of the talks with him are thought to have rubbed many clubs the wrong way.