Tottenham’s ‘worst-case scenario’ revealed as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven face exits
Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will quit Tottenham Hotspur if they are relegated this season.
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider it would be a “disaster” for Spurs if they lose their Premier League status.
Tottenham lost 3-1 against Crystal Palace in their latest Premier League outing, ensuring they have now gone 11 games without a league win.
Igor Tudor’s side sit 16th in the table and are just one point above third-bottom West Ham following their poor run of form.
Tottenham are expected to lose several stars if they are relegated to the Championship this season.
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Why Tottenham relegation will be ‘big shock’
Premier League clubs often have relegation clauses in their players’ contracts to mitigate the costs of dropping out of the top flight.
The Athletic reported on 2 March the vast majority of Spurs’ squad have such relegation clauses that would see their wages drop by around 50 per cent in the Championship.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson discussed the impact on Tottenham if they are relegated from the Premier League this season.
“Some of the higher-earning players, so Van de Ven, Romero and presumably some of those players who are currently injured, some of those will go in the summer,” said Borson.
“It’s obviously a disaster to get relegated for a club like Spurs.
“The whole cost base is set up to be a Premier League club and possibly even a Uefa qualifying club, so that will be a big shock to the system for them.
“People will have to take some pain in terms of wages.
“But they do have ways in which they can mitigate and the whole point of having that stadium that generates commercial revenue outside of football is that in the worst-case scenario, they’re okay. They’re not good, but they’re okay.”
How much do Tottenham spend on wages?
Deloitte’s 2026 Money League revealed Tottenham’s overall wage bill surged from £222million in 2023-24 to £249m last season.
Those numbers could have increased following Spurs’ success in the Europa League under former boss Ange Postecoglou.
Deloitte’s report revealed the turnover stood at £565m last season, but Tottenham would instantly lose more than £60m in revenue if they are unable to avoid relegation.
Spurs’ next game sees them take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday (15 March) as they look to bounce back from their 5-2 defeat against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
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