September 9 – Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale, its owners ENIC Sports & Developments Holdings Ltd have claimed.
The news came on Sunday evening after two failed approaches to buy the north London club following the sudden departure of long-serving chairman Daniel Levy, who had become a lightning rod for fan frustration.
The bids, one from Amanda Staveley’s PCP International Finance Limited, who took on a large role in Newcastle United’s Saudi-backed sale, and another from a consortium led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng, were rebuffed. “Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale,” read the official statement. “ENIC has no intention to accept any such offer.”
Under UK takeover law, PCP is now barred from making another approach for six months. That leaves the family trust of Joe Lewis in control through their majority stake in ENIC, a company in which Levy’s family still holds around 30%.
The Premier League is being reshaped by U.S. and Middle Eastern money. Manchester City were the pioneers, Newcastle are the latest beneficiaries, and there appears to be a queue forming behind them. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has made no secret of its ambition to own a greater slice of the English game, and fans know that when oil wealth meets ambition, resistance rarely lasts.
For now, Spurs insist they’re not interested in selling. But Levy’s exit signals a shift. After all, in modern football, “not for sale” often just means “not yet.