Reuters

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LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur said its majority shareholder has received and rejected two preliminary expressions of interest for a possible takeover and insists the Premier League club is not for sale.

Speculation about a possible change of ownership has increased since executive chairman Daniel Levy stepped down after almost 25 years in the post on Thursday.

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A club statement late on Sunday said ENIC Sports & Developments Holdings Ltd had unequivocally rejected two separate preliminary expressions on interest, one from former Newcastle United shareholder Amanda Staveley's PCP International Finance Limited and another from a consortium led by Dr. Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited.

ENIC owns 86.5% of the club's shares.

"As a consequence of ENIC's majority ownership interest in Tottenham Hotspur, were any offer made to acquire ENIC and complete, a mandatory offer would be required under Rule 9 of the (UK Takeover) Code to acquire the shares of Tottenham Hotspur not already held by ENIC," the statement said.

"The Board of the Club and ENIC confirm that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale and ENIC has no intention to accept any such offer to acquire its interest in the Club.

"In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the code, each of PCP and the consortium is separately required, by not later than 5pm on 5 October 2025, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for the company in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for the company, in which case their respective announcements will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies."

The majority of ENIC is owned by British businessman Joe Lewis and his family, who also own the Tavistock Group, a private equity company.

In April, Tottenham named Vinai Venkatesham as their new chief executive, while Peter Charrington became the non-executive chairman, a newly formed role, following Levy's exit.

Announcing Levy's exit, Tottenham said there would be "no changes to the ownership or shareholder structure".

Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Himani Sarkar

SEOUL, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min will bring his 10-year spell with the Premier League club to an end this summer, the 33-year-old South Korean said on Saturday.

Son, who is under contract until 2026, led Spurs to their first trophy in 17 years with their win over Manchester United in the Europa League final in May, having joined the North London club from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.

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While Son did not disclose his next destination, British media have linked him with a move to Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC.

"I have decided to leave the team this summer," Son said at a press conference ahead of Spurs' pre-season friendly against Newcastle United in Seoul on Sunday.

"I think it was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made in my football career. Playing football and being with one team for 10 years is something I am very proud of, but I think I gave my all to the team every single day.

"I did my best on the field and off the field, and by winning the Europa League, I thought I'd done everything I could and achieved."

Son has made 454 appearances for Spurs and scored 173 goals. He won the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2021-22 season.

"It was the place where I grew a lot as a football player and a person, so I have a very grateful heart."

Manager Thomas Frank said Son was "truly Spurs legend in every aspect".

"I like that the club has been open to it because it is never, never easy to find that perfect timing ... I think it is probably the perfect timing going out on a high," he added.

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April 22 (Reuters) - There was not much for Ange Postecoglou to be happy about during Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest on Monday but perhaps the Australian would have cracked a smile knowing the VAR system was out of action for several minutes.

Postecoglou has long been a vocal critic of VAR and said in early April that the review system was "killing the game" after a Spurs goal was disallowed during a 1-0 loss to Chelsea.

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Thankfully for officials on Monday, no major incidents took place during the eight minutes VAR was unavailable due to what the Premier League said was a fire alarm at the Stockley Park facility in West London where the match footage is monitored.

A similar incident occurred in November when Manchester United's match at Ipswich Town continued without VAR because of a reported fire alarm at the same facility.

Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford

LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - Embattled Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou accused the club's critics of a negative agenda on Wednesday as he prepared for a pivotal game of his second season in charge.

The Australian has come in for fierce criticism this season with Tottenham languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League, but they could still find Europa League redemption.

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Tottenham host Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday with many suggesting Postecoglou's future at the club could depend on whether or not he can salvage a poor season by winning the trophy.

The London club prepared for the crucial clash with a 3-1 league victory over bottom club Southampton at the weekend but even after that win, Postecoglou was grilled about Brennan Johnson being denied a hat-trick.

Johnson was keen to take a late penalty with the score 2-1 but it was instead given to Mathys Tel.

"We scored, we won. Delighted. It's incredible. It's the one bit. Literally turning gold into crap when it's Tottenham. If we're 2-1 up and we get a penalty late on, I want our best penalty taker to take it," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"I just think we're in that position now where even the good stuff we do is going to be turned into a glass half-empty rhetoric. The one slight against this club is that it hasn't been a winner. The winners' mentality in the last minute is to score. We scored and somehow, in this alternate universe, everything Tottenham does is negative."

Bundesliga side Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2022, beating Rangers in the final on penalties, and they represent a tough obstacle for Tottenham over two legs.

Tottenham fans have not had much to shout about this season, but Postecoglou hopes the home crowd can help create a raucous atmosphere in their 60,000-seat arena on Thursday, similar to the one Arsenal fans produced against Real Madrid on Tuesday.

"It's hugely important," Postecoglou said. "With every European game, you are watching last night or watching tonight, the atmosphere makes a big impact.

"It's a big part of European football. A lot of teams that have success in Europe are on the back of a really strong home atmosphere. We hope it's the same for us tomorrow."

Tottenham have not won a trophy since the League Cup in 2008 and have not reached a European quarter-final since 2019 when they reached the Champions League final and lost to Liverpool.

Postecoglou said even if he does end that trophy drought, it might not be good enough for some people.

"I just think you can't win the argument of convincing people. Even if we win (the Europa League), I am gone anyway. That's just the general sentiment of the people," he said.

"If you try to use that as a motivation, you are not going to win anyway. It's got to be something more in it for us. For us, what's most important is that we have been through a tough time but we are still in a position to make an impact."

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The south-coast club, who earned promotion to the top-flight last season, have 10 points after 31 games to sit rock bottom and 22 points from the safety zone.

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Relegation has been on the cards for some time as a dire Southampton fell to their 25th league defeat this season.

But they still need two more points to avoid the ignominy of finishing as the worst team in Premier League history - a label that has stuck to the 2007-08 Derby County side who finished the campaign with 11 points.

"We want to get as many points as we can until the end of the season," Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale told Sky Sports.

"No one wants that record... but we will do what we can to get more points on the board."

Manager Ivan Juric, who took over in December and has overseen only two wins in all competitions, is desperate to ensure he does not go into the history books for the wrong reasons.

"We have to avoid that record, do our best. It cannot happen," the Croatian said.

"We know that we are in a bad situation and today was a certain thing. I cannot say anything bad about the players, it was a really tough year for everyone."

INEVITABLE RELEGATION

Southampton captain Jan Bednarek gave an honest assessment of the team.

"Today is just official but we knew for a few weeks that relegation was coming," he said.

"Hopefully, we can perform better in the last seven games. We want to get more points, I don't think 10 is enough."

Their run of games does not get any easier with Aston Villa, Manchester City and Arsenal to visit St Mary's Stadium before the end of the season.

Despite their abject performances, the travelling support were in full voice at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, with the players and coach staying back on the pitch to acknowledge the fans.

"It's a difficult day, a tough day. But I see the fans, how they love their players and their team. It's something incredible," Juric added.

"This experience has to serve to create something stronger than this."

Ramsdale, who has suffered relegation before with Bournemouth and Sheffield United, said some Saints players were experiencing it for the first time.

"There will be a lot of emotions from them over the next few days. The lads who have been here before, we have to try and pick the young boys up," he said.

"This group did incredible things last season. Nobody will want to jump ship with seven games to go. We are tight and we have just got to pull each other through now."