TBR Football

Having brokered the Abu Dhabi and PIF-led takeovers of Man City and Newcastle, it’s no surprise to see Amanda Staveley courting Middle East investment again. This time, with Tottenham.

Staveley has assembled a consortium with a view to buying into Spurs, with backers from the Middle East understood to be among those to have registered their interest.

Just as she did when she invested in Newcastle via her PCP Capital Partners vehicle, the 51-year-old financier is unlikely to use her own money if she is to obtain a stake in Tottenham.

At St James’ Park, Staveley borrowed from deal partners the Reuben Brothers to fund her stake.

Paradoxically, she latter paid back that loan with the proceeds from selling the stake back to the Reuben Brothers themselves.

In any case, the sum PIF paid to buy Newcastle outright is utterly dwarfed by the price that Daniel Levy’s next co-investor will pay to acquire just a fraction of Tottenham’s equity.

Levy values Spurs at £3.75bn and, given the 62-year-old’s infamously obstinate negotiation style, any minority partner is unlikely to be given any wriggle room on that figure.

Staveley herself has had a difficult year in terms of her own private wealth.

She was ordered to pay £3.4m to former business associated Victor Restis in a court case in March this year and subsequently narrowly avoided bankruptcy.

The 51-year-old has also shut down a number of the companies she owns alongside husband and business partner Mehrdad Ghodoussi.

Now, however, Staveley has received news that bodes well for her future financial outlook and in turn her ability to personally invest in Tottenham.

Amanda Staveley gets positive omen from Qatar-Barclays case

Staveley’s contact book is almost peerless in the world Middle Eastern finance.

Her connections stretch well beyond football’s business sphere too.

In 2008, she helped broker the deal that saw a member of the Qatari royal family step into take a stake in Barclays in order to prevent the bank from going under.

She later argued in court that she had been denied up to £1bn for assisting the process but, although the hearing ruled that Barclays had committed serious deceit, she was ultimately unsuccessful.

However, this week, The Times have reported that Barclays have accepted a £50m fine in a case relating to the same transaction conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

And although this is separate to Staveley’s personal claim, it could be significant because she is also claiming up to £830m from Barclays in International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris.

If the ICC endorses the view of the FCA, that could mean Staveley’s personal wealth is set to soar, giving her the liquidity to personally invest in Spurs.

Real Madrid shake-up the market: The latest in Daniel Levy’s hunt for Tottenham investment

On Monday, Real Madrid Florentino Perez opened the door to private investment for the first time in the club’s history.

Why is that significant? Because the pool of people with the capacity and the inclination to buy into an elite club is limited and the presence of another minority investment prospect on the market will affect Levy’s hunt for a new partner.

In terms of where the money from an equity sale will go, Levy has said that some of the capital will be reinvested into football operations, while some will also go towards capital expenditure projects.

Chief among these appears to be the construction of a hotel on the site of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which could be a major revenue generator for the club.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were two of the weekend’s biggest winners with their respective victories.

And after 12 games, there is not actually a great deal between the two sides in the table despite Arsenal having won the first North London Derby of the season.

But the two sides could soon find themselves going head-to-head away from the pitch with one transfer target shared between the two sides.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have also suffered considerably this season from injuries with Guglielmo Vicario undergoing ankle surgery this week.

It may have been a fairly solid start for both sides but Tottenham and Arsenal may already be looking to make more improvements to their squad over the coming months.

Arsenal and Tottenham monitoring Bazoumana Toure

According to journalist Florian Plettenberg, both Arsenal and Tottenham are believed to have their eyes on Bazoumana Toure.

The 18-year-old winger is receiving interest from a number of European sides, though, with Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, and Wolfsburg also linked.

Toure is still in contract with the Swedish side Hammarby until 2028 but is believed to be one to watch for the coming transfer windows.

The news comes as Tottenham reject a new contract for Heung-min Son as the Lilywhites have decided to only trigger his year extension.

And Arsenal have decided Raheem Sterling’s loan will not be made permanent next summer after joining for the season from Chelsea.

Who is Bazoumana Toure?

The 18-year-old winger has been in fine form this season in Sweden where he has already become a regular despite his young age.

Swedish media outlet Fotbollskanalen have already hailed Toure as ‘something special’ after his early displays prior to turning 18.

The youngster has represented the Ivory Coast at U20 level with three caps already to his name.

But it seems as if he could soon be in line for a big step up to one of Europe’s top sides with interest growing in the young prospect.

Tottenham Hotspur have been brought crashing back down to earth on Monday following their sensational win over Manchester City.

It was a weekend to remember for Ange Postecoglou and his men after they put four past the Premier League champions on Saturday.

After returning from the international break, Tottenham needed to answer their previous loss against Ipswich Town and they did more than that.

Postecoglou was full of praise for James Maddison after the midfielder returned to the starting XI with two goals at the Etihad.

However, there is one of Tottenham’s top performers from the weekend who has just been handed some seriously frustrating news.

Injuries have plagued the Lilywhites with Tottenham currently missing Cristian Romero through an injury to name just one, and there’s now another on the list.

On Monday, it was announced that Vicario had suffered a fractured ankle during the game against City which has forced him to undergo surgery.

The club have now shared the Italian will undergo assessment from the medical staff to determine how long he is going to need on the sidelines.

Some journalists did notice Vicario limped out of the Etihad on Saturday which did raise some concerns over the goalkeeper’s fitness.

However, not many would have expected that to lead to surgery in the coming hours and an expected number of months on the sidelines.

Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison react to Vicario’s injury

Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski wowed Gary Neville against City on the weekend and they are just two of the Spurs players to share their thoughts on the news.

Having undergone surgery already, Vicario took to Instagram where he shared an update on his injury.

‘I played 60 minutes at the Etihad with a broken bone in my ankle, giving absolutely everything I had for the team. Unfortunately, there was no way around this one.. I needed surgery,’ he said.

‘I’m disappointed I won’t be able to help the team for a while.’

To which a number of Tottenham players responded in the replies sharing their support for the Italian goalkeeper.

With some big games on the horizon in a busy festive schedule, it looks as if it is going to be Fraser Forster’s time to prove his worth.

Amanda Staveley is one of the very biggest names in football finance and news that she wants to buy into Tottenham has been greeted positively by Spurs supporters.

Crucially, Staveley would almost certainly not use her own money to buy a stake in Spurs from Daniel Levy or ENIC but rather orchestrate a consortium of high net worth individuals to invest in the club.

Speaking to TBR Football earlier this year, Liverpool University football finance lecturer and industry insider Kieran Maguire said Middle Eastern and American investors are interested in Spurs via this avenue.

Tottenham have been looking for fresh investment for years but Staveley, who left her role as a minority shareholder and director at Newcastle United in July, is the first name to been reliably linked.

Staveley has also looked at AS Monaco alongside her husband and PCP Capital Partners business partner Mehrdad Ghodoussi.

The pair are among the most experienced takeover brokers in the sport, having engineered PIF’s investment in Newcastle three years ago and the Abu Dhabi-backed regime change at Man City in 2008.

The mergers and acquisitions market is crowded at the moment, with as many as seven Premier League clubs seeking investment in some form.

On the continent meanwhile, financial turbulence within French football, the proliferation of multi-club empires, and private equity’s hunger to invest in the game have shaken up the investment racket.

However, one club no one foresaw being the catalyst for another goldrush was Spanish titans Real Madrid.

Florentino Perez courts Real Madrid investment clamour – Spurs set to feel knock-on effect

Once upon a time, Tottenham signed up for what they thought termed a ‘special relationship’ with Real Madrid, prompted by the sale of Luka Modric to the 15-time Champions League winners in 2012.

In the end, the collaboration – which was meant to centre around resource and knowledge sharing – never amounted to much.

Unlike Spurs and indeed every other English club, Real Madrid have an unconventional ownership structure in that they are effectively owned by 60,000 fee-paying fans or ‘socios’.

However, controversial Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who collaborated with Daniel Levy on the aborted European Super League plot, has announced that this could soon change.

As relayed by Bloomberg, the 77-year-old billionaire has opened up the possibility that, for the first time in the club’s history, private investors could be invited into the fold.

Speaking at Real’s general assembly, Perez also said that the club is valued at around £8.5bn.

TBR has repeatedly been told by those within football finance circles that the consortium that Staveley has assembled is fragile, with investors having only provided conditional support at this stage.

The potential emergence of arguably the biggest club in world football on the mergers and acquisitions market – and particularly those seeking a blue-chip minority investment – could be a game-changer.

Daniel Levy’s Tottenham investment strategy: Will Amanda Staveley play ball?

Amanda Staveley’s gravitation towards Tottenham makes sense in terms of the profile of the club.

She immersed herself in commercial operations to great effect at Newcastle, and Spurs are a club whose commercial focus is absolutely central to their business model.

Since the move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019, the emphasis on sponsorship, merchandise and events has helped their revenue skyrocket, thereby increasing their enterprise value.

That is one of the primary reasons that Daniel Levy thinks Spurs are worth £3.75bn in total.

However, in practice, several analysts consulted by this site have suggested that Staveley and Spurs are hardly a match made in heaven.

Staveley has the degenerative neurological condition Huntingon’s disease and has cited this when emphasising that she wants a hands-on role within football – “I need to work,” she has said previously.

However, Levy is unlikely to give up much control to a minority investor in N17. A 10-20 per cent investment might not even guarantee a seat on the board.

For Staveley, that is far from ideal.

After all, minority investment is often described as the most expensive season ticket in football.

Tottenham have had a flurry of transfer activity since Ange Postecoglou took over and that has led to certain players being frozen out of proceedings.

Postecoglou has been backed by Daniel Levy and ENIC and so far, things are looking on an upward curve for the club as a whole.

But for all the good signings made, certain players in the squad have been pushed out and some of those are now looking for an exit.

One such player is Spanish defender, Sergio Reguilon. Reguilon is not fancied by Big Ange one bit and there’s been talk of Reguilon wanting to rip his contract up.

However, Tottenham haven’t allowed that to happen just yet and it could work in their favour in January.

Getafe could pay money to sign Sergio Reguilon in January

According to Spanish outlet Vamos Sevilla, Reguilon is a wanted man over in Spain and it’s former club, Sevilla, who are keen to take him on a free in the summer.

However, in what could be a stumbling block for the La Liga side, Getafe are also keen on Reguilon and crucially, could be willing to pay some money in January.

Tottenham, of course, would prefer that route as they look to at least get some return on a player they spent £32m on in 2020.

Reguilon, of course, will be desperate to get out of Spurs and reboot his career. After spells with both Brentford and Man United, the Spaniard will want to move on quickly.

Tottenham should let Reguilon go

This is becoming one of those situations where a player just needs to be allowed to move on.

Sure, Tottenham could pocket a bit of change and put it towards FFP and anything else but the reality is a player has been frozen out, is on decent money, and is stalling his own career along the way.

Tottenham and Reguilon need to work this out in January one way or another.

And if it means letting him go for nothing, then so be it.

Pedro Porro came back to haunt Manchester City on Saturday as Tottenham recorded a 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.

The Spain international – who Manchester City sold to Sporting CP for £7.9m back in 2022 – popped up to net Tottenham’s third goal in what was a resounding victory against Pep Guardiola’s reigning Premier League champions.

However, the Tottenham No.23 received criticism from fans – including some Spurs supporters too – after deciding not to celebrate his goal, as we often see players do when netting against former employers.

Instead, the man from Don Benito simply ran towards the away section with his hand held up in apologetic fashion.

In this instance, though, it was odd to see from Pedro Porro – who never actually made an appearance for Manchester City before the Citizens offloaded him.

Now – however – the Spaniard has hit back.

What Pedro Porro wrote on X

In response to those who questioned his non-celebration at the Etihad Stadium, Porro posted a photo on X (previously known as Twitter) showing himself passionately celebrating after Brennan Johnson made it 4-0 in the 93rd minute.

Perhaps the 25-year-old himself was asking why he opted not to celebrate his goal in the time between his 52nd minute strike and Johnson’s effort, as he let out a lot more emotion following the Wales international’s strike.

How much Manchester City made from Tottenham signing Pedro Porro

When deciding to offload Porro, who Real Madrid want, Manchester City negotiated a 30% sell-on clause.

As a result, the Citizens secured themselves £11.7m after Tottenham paid Sporting CP a sum of £39m to bring the Spaniard back to the Premier League.

Tottenham midfielder James Maddison produced a fine performance at Man City and Gary Neville has now given some words of advice to him.

Maddison was thrown back into the starting XI and produced the goods for Ange Postecoglou with two goals and an all-action display in the middle.

Indeed, Postecoglou himself lauded Maddison and admitted he was delighted to see his £40m signing turn it on in a big game.

Maddison was, of course, left out of the England squad in the summer and was openly upset about not being selected.

But according to Gary Neville, Maddison can be that main man at England level, as long as he does the other part of the game.

Gary Neville gives James Maddison advice after Tottenham beat Man City

Speaking on Sky Sports about Maddison’s impact on the game, Neville called for the Spurs man to do it more often and take heed of players like Kevin De Bruyne and Wayne Rooney.

“Look, we love his character, we love his personality, we love seeing it when he scores. But to be a serious football player and he has got the potential to be a serious football player, he needs to be what he was in that second half and that’s be tenacious,” Neville said.

“Pep Guardiola came to City and turned David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, two of the most beautiful midfield players, into fantastic defenders. It’s not mutually exlclusive. You can be both a great attacker and defender. You can work your backside off for your team and be a fantastic defender, and also be a creative genius. Some of the greatest I played with, were the greatest spirits.

“I’ll name one, Wayne Rooney, as soon as he lost the ball, he was like a kid in the street trying to win it back. And that’s what Maddison did in the second half.”

Going further with his analysis, Neville then claimed Maddison will be an England regular if he can remain consistent and keep improving.

“For James, don’t be the maverick, don’t be the one that people say ‘oh he doesn’t work hard’. Don’t be that player. Think of them all – Xavi, Iniesta – those who play in that midfield role, be a dog. Be a dog in there. Be that all the time. You’ll be an England player. No one can touch him. All those players we’ve got at England, he can be the best. He ran that game in the second half.”

A turning point for James Maddison’s Tottenham career?

Nobody has any doubt over James Maddison’s talent and what he can deliver at club level when he’s at his best.

The problem now is he’s at a team who are chasing a top four spot and a trophy, and to do that, he needs to produce consistent performances that get his team wins.

At City, Maddison was the best player on the pitch – although Dejan Kulusevski was also praised for his work – and it helped Tottenham to a huge win.

This is the level now for Maddison and as Neville hints later in this clip, eyes will be on the former Leicester man now to check those consistency levels out.

You have to be some player to be mentioned with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid but Gary Neville feels Tottenham have a player in the current ranks who might just be good enough.

Spurs sold Gareth Bale to Madrid years ago and the Welsh winger went on to have a fine career in Spain, winning multiple Champions League titles.

Sales direct from a club like Tottenham to the elite are rare and while there is interest from Madrid in Pedro Porro, it remains to be seen if that will actually materialise to anything.

However, while Porro has been the one linked with a big move, Gary Neville actually believes it’s another Spurs ace who could get that big move.

Dejan Kulusevski tipped to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona

Speaking on Sky Sports about Tottenham’s performance overall and certain individuals, Neville got onto the subject of Dejan Kulusevski.

And according to Neville, the Swede is now producing performance levels that will attract the very best in Europe.

“Kulusevski was and looks a serious player. He has become a hell of a player. His strength and running power is getting better, but he has a subtlety in beating players.

“He has a variation to his game now. He is a different player now. This is a player that the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid will begin to look at.

“I am not being disrespectful to Spurs, but that was the level of his performance and he has been like that for a while now. He was outstanding.”

Kulusevski become the main man at Tottenham

Tottenham paid just £25m to sign Kulusevski and right now, that’s looking like one of the bargains of the last few windows.

Under Ange Postecoglou, Kulusevski has become central to everything that is good about Spurs and while he dismantled City from wide areas, he has also shown he can flourish in the number ten role as well.

As Neville says, his performance level at City was that of a player destined for bigger and better things.

For now, he is Tottenham’s man but if this carries on, the prediction on Madrid and Barcelona might not be too far off.

Tottenham Hotspur sent a message of intent to the entirety of the Premier League with a 4-0 win away at Manchester City.

Spurs have blown hot and cold this season, recording some incredible results but also falling to defeats against teams that, on paper, they should have beaten.

The loss to Ipswich Town upped the pressure on Ange Postecoglou, but he and his Tottenham charges showed how they can literally beat – indeed, destroy – anyone on their day.

Spurs opened the scoring on 13 minutes when Dejan Kulusevski whipped in a marvellous cross for James Maddison to volley home.

The England international then doubled Tottenham’s lead just seven minutes later, lobbing the ball over Ederson following a one-two win Son Heung-min.

As if being two-up at half-time didn’t send enough shockwaves throughout the Premier League, they got a third early in the second half.

Dominic Solanke teed up Pedro Porro to curl home a powerful effort past the Man City stopper in the 53rd minute of the game.

Tottenham then rubbed salt in the wound with a stoppage-time fourth as Brennan Johnson ghosted in at the back post to tap home Timo Werner’s cross.

Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood delivered his verdict on the match at full-time, singling out two Spurs players for their efforts on the day.

Tim Sherwood hails Tottenham duo James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski

Sherwood, speaking on Premier League Productions, said Maddison was “brilliant”, while Kulusevski delivered a “magnificent” display.

“We expected goals but we didn’t expect four for Spurs,” he said. “It’s a fantastic result for them, the game plan worked perfectly.

“Maddison played brilliant, Kulusevski looked magnificent. I thought it was a perfect performance. Very, very Spursy.”

How Alasdair Gold rated Maddison and Kulusevski

Football.london gave both Maddison and Kulusevski a rating of 9 out of 10 for their heroics on the day.

Alasdair Gold said of Maddison: “Celebrated his birthday with two superb first-half strikes.

“The first was a left-footed volley on the run and the second was a delicate dink over the onrushing Ederson.

“His confidence was flowing from then on and he showed exactly what he can do.”

Gold then said of Kulusevski: “On the right wing and he hit a sublime pass into the path of Maddison for the opening goal.

“Was then involved in Spurs’ third goal early in the second half with a ball across to Solanke.

“Forced Ederson into a save with a second half run and shot. He just loves to play at this stadium.”

Tottenham might have seen off Man City with ease tonight but there was also some potentially worrying injury news as well as the players headed home.

Ange Postecoglou saw his side hammer City and put a huge smile on the faces of the travelling Tottenham fans who made the long journey north.

With the likes of Dejan Kulusevski impressing and even Timo Werner showing Kyle Walker what true pace is, Tottenham fans will be celebrating long into the night.

However, just like everything with Tottenham, there is always a downside and according to one Athletic journalist, a key player could have picked up an injury.

Vicario could be injured as Tottenham hammer Man City

Taking to X to share the news on a potential injury for goalkeeper Vicario, Athletic journalist Jay Harris shared some information from the mixed media zone.

And according to Harry, Vicario was very much limping as he made his way through.

Vicario loss would be massive for Tottenham

Vicario was dubbed as Tottenham’s weakness by Frank Lampard just a few weeks back but after tonight, he’ll be the talk of the town.

Nevertheless, if he is injured and is set to miss games, it’s a major blow for Spurs on what was otherwise a perfect night.

Vicario dealt with a number of big chances for Erling Haaland and his handling and commanding of his box was good as well.

The £17m Italian has grown into his role under Postecoglou and while at times he has shaky moments, he is very much Tottenham’s best goalkeeper.

If he is injured, then Tottenham will be worried and with a busy December to come, all eyes will be on just how serious any potential knock is.