Levy Q&A on transfers
What is your view on other clubs' spending during this window?
"My view is that it's totally unsustainable. I'm not sure if that's the view of the other Premier League clubs, but certainly the prices that are being paid for other Premier League players I can't see it being sustainable in the long term.
"I think I am a custodian of this football club. This club has been around since 1882 and when I leave it will be somebody else. I think we have a duty to manage the club appropriately. I don't think that long term for any club it's sustainable to spend more than you earn. You can have periods where you do but over the long term you can't.
"I think that some of the activity that's going on at the moment is just impossible to be sustainable. You know if somebody is spending £200m more than they're earning then eventually it catches up with you. You can't keep doing it.
"We've managed the club, we think, in a very appropriate way. We've invested a lot of money in physical facilities for long-term growth. So we've got one of the world's best training facilities. We've invested over £100m in that facility.
"We're now investing in the stadium. The stadium is fundamental because with that we get more fans and more income and that's the way to clearly have a more sustainable business.
"At the same time the academy is important because we can produce our own players. We don't have to go and spend £20, £30m, £40m on a player and obviously that homegrown player has an affinity with the club that a player we buy doesn't. That's what the fans want to see. They want to have that passion. That's what you get with a homegrown player and that's why people love Harry Kane and sing that he's one of our own."
Does the new stadium impact the club's activity in the transfer market?
"I'd answer that in two ways. Regardless of the stadium project, today our position on transfers is that we have a coach that very much believes in the academy.
"Unless we can find a player who would make a difference he would rather give one of our academy players a chance so that's regardless of the financing of the stadium.
"Obviously when you're building a stadium of this magnitude in a UK context it all has to be privately financed. There's no state help whatsoever.
"It is a challenge and we have to find the right balance but it's not impacting us at the moment on transfer activity because we're not yet in a place where we've found the player who we definitely want to buy but can't afford to buy."
What do you make of the activity around football in China?
"The country have decided that they want to become a major soccer country and they ultimately want to win the World Cup. They're putting huge resources into it. Money in itself doesn't mean you'll get success. It's all about the grassroots. Their providing lots of pitches around China and they're looking to get engagement from professional clubs in Europe and how they can have better coaching.
"I think in the long term China will be a force to be reckoned with."
Do you worry about losing your star players to China?
"I think it's quite difficult for Europeans to go to China. I think it's a completely different culture and I think that's a big obstacle. I can understand why players towards the end of their career, the money being talked about and as it's their last opportunity.
"To a similar extent there's the US. That's why you saw the players at the end of their careers coming over here and they were being offered money that they perhaps wouldn't get in Europe."
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