Tottenham Hotspur were linked with a takeover bid earlier this year as a group of Qatari investors sought to buy the club, and they were reportedly willing to give Spurs chairman Daniel Levy a long-term contract to continue running the club as executive chairman.
However, their plans fell through and an ITK, Habibullah Khan, has now shared on the latest episode of The Lab (Tottenham Hotspur Podcast) the behind-the-scenes story of how Levy frustrated the Qataris.
Habib has genuine links to people close to the attempted Spurs takeover process, and he has shared what he has heard about how the discussions progressed and eventually fell through.
It is unknown whether the Qataris – who are private individuals rather than the government-backed Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) or Sheikh Jassim – met the £3.75bn valuation of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium club, but they were reportedly keen on acquiring full ownership.
They also wanted to invest in the local area as part of a long-term UK strategy, but Levy kept moving the goalposts despite talks with Joe Lewis moving forward.
Habib further threw light on the situation on his X handle.
British business executive Amanda Staveley wanted to buy a stake in Tottenham last year, targeting the acquisition of a 25 per cent stake having been backed by serious money from the Middle East and wealthy individuals.
However, nothing materialised and it appears Spurs will not be getting new owners anytime soon because of Levy.
ENIC Group – which belongs to the family trust of Lewis – owns 86.58% of the North London club, while Levy and his family own 29.88% of the share capital of ENIC.
Levy is not keen on letting go of Tottenham anytime soon, and it appears not even the protests from the fans will get to him.
Spurs finally won their first silverware since 2008 last term under former manager Ange Postecoglou, but chances are they could have won plenty of silverware since then if they had another chairman.