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Transfers The Summer Transfer Thread 2025

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Probably won't be as comprehensive or straightforward as this, but I wouldn't mind this business in the summer.

Out
Richarlison (30m)
Romero (45-50m)
Werner (end of loan)
Reguilon (15m)
Bissouma (25-30m - great for us in Europa lately but not reliable enough)

In
Mbeumo (FW) (60m)
Tel (loan) (FW) (6-8m?)
Jonathan David (FW) (Free Agent, sign-on fee)
Cardoso (DM) (25m)
Another FB (20m)


Eze (CAM) (60m) ???
Isn’t Reguillon out of contract so no £15m. £25-£30m for Bissouma, seriously?
 
We have a large net transfer debt of over £250m. It's likely we'll need to sell before we buy. We have an obligation to buy Danso for about £20m, but we're also going to receive about £17m on Holbjerg from Marseille because of their obligation to buy.

Outs
Richarlison £25m
Romero £50m
PEH £17m
Gil £15m
Solomon £15m
Reguilon Out of contract in June this year so leaves for free.

£122m

Ins
Tel £45m
Danso £20m
Vuskovic likely already paid for.

So that leaves about £57m to spend, if we don't buy Cardoso. Enough to get Eze or someone of that ilk with a bit left over to pay off some of the transfer debt.

However, their ability to spend is severely restricted. According to The Telegraph, Tottenham will need to offload players before making new signings, as they face a staggering £279 million in unpaid transfer debt. Finance expert Stefan Borson told Football Insider that the club has accumulated this figure through instalment-based payments after spending over £700 million on transfers in recent seasons.

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Levy added: “Since opening our new stadium in April 2019, we have invested over £700 million net in player acquisitions.....

....Enic provided £122.1 million in owner funding since their 2001 takeover to June 2024, the equivalent of just £5.3 million per season. The majority of that came from a £97.5 million share issue in May 2022, which had initially been announced as being worth up to £150 million.

I disagree with The Telegraph and the headline of transfer debt being 'mammoth' is just 'click bait'. They have not looked at when sums are contractually due with over half the debt not being due for more than 1 year after balance sheet date.

These are some numbers out of the published accounts for transfer debt (divided between due within 1 year (< 1 year) and due in more than 1 year) and payments made for transfers :

30 June 2024 debt £146m (< 1 year) plus £191m (> 1 year), payments £ 224m
30 June 2023 debt £155m (< 1 year) plus £153m (> 1 year), payments £ 135m
30 June 2022 debt £115m (< 1 year) plus £136m (> 1 year) payments £92m
30 June 2021 debt £ 56m (< 1 year) plus £ 114m (> 1 year) payments £79m

BTW, note that Kane was sold after the 30 June 2024 accounts, and rumours are a big chunk was paid to Spurs up front (lets guess £50m or £60m).

Big takeaway from these numbers are that at 30 June 2024 only £146m is due within 1 year, the rest is due after that date in instalments.

Also note the total amount owing at 30 June 2024 is only about £40m more than at 30 June 2023 (not a large increase given other numbers) suggesting that 'the market' (whether banks or other clubs) are quite happy with the level of debt.

And note that Spurs are regularly making big payments for players - last year the highest with £224m being paid.

So whilst Spurs could probably do with raising say £300m from issue of new shares to a new minority shareholder, the transfer debt is a long long way from being a crisis, and Spurs will be able to spend monies this next transfer window irrespective of raising money from sales of current players.
 
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I disagree with The Telegraph and the headline of transfer debt being 'mammoth' is just 'click bait'. They have not looked at when sums are contractually due with over half the debt not being due for more than 1 year after balance sheet date.

These are some numbers out of the published accounts for transfer debt (divided between due within 1 year (< 1 year) and due in more than 1 year) and payments made for transfers :

30 June 2024 debt £146m (< 1 year) plus £191m (> 1 year), payments £ 224m
30 June 2023 debt £155m (< 1 year) plus £153m (> 1 year), payments £ 135m
30 June 2022 debt £115m (< 1 year) plus £136m (> 1 year) payments £92m
30 June 2021 debt £ 56m (< 1 year) plus £ 114m (> 1 year) payments £79m

BTW, note that Kane was sold after the 30 June accounts, and rumours are a big chunk was paid to Spurs up front (lets guess £50m or £60m).

Big takeaway from these numbers are that at 30 June 2024 only £146m is due within 1 year, the rest is due after that date in instalments.

Also note the total amount owing at 30 June 2024 is only about £40m more than at 30 June 2023 (not a large increase given other numbers) suggesting that 'the market' (whether banks or other clubs) are quite happy with the level of debt.

And note that Spurs are regularly making big payments for players - last year the highest with £224m being paid.

So whilst Spurs could probably do with raising say £300m from issue of new shares to a new minority shareholder, the transfer debt is a long long way from being a crisis, and Spurs will be able to spend monies this next transfer window irrespective of raising money from sales of current players.
I think the point is Levy doesn't want to grow the overall transfer debt. The part about Kane that you said isn't correct, if you look at the gross transfer debt (not including money owed to Spurs it's an even bigger number).

According to The Telegraph (28 April), Spurs face a tough summer of trading with net transfer debt reaching almost £280million.

That figure is what Tottenham owe to other clubs for previous transfers – minus what they are owed for their own sales.

Football.London have now explained that Tottenham Hotspur find themselves in this difficult position due to their increasing transfer debt.

The outlet explains that most of their transfers have been done on credit in recent years, with Tottenham’s transfer payables (the money owed to clubs on players they have already signed) currently standing at a whopping £337m.

In that metric, Spurs are second only to London rivals Chelsea, who have accumulated a transfer debt of £479m.
As a result, Tottenham have been eating into their cash reserve, which has gone down from £198m at the financial year ending in 2023 to just £79m as of March 31, 2024.

So the £337m (gross) figure isn't including the Kane money and other transfer money owed to Spurs.
The £279m (net) figure includes deducted money owned to spurs for Kane et al by other clubs.
 
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I think the point is Levy doesn't want to grow the overall transfer debt. The part about Kane that you said isn't correct, if you look at the gross transfer debt (not including money owed to Spurs it's an even bigger number).

According to The Telegraph (28 April), Spurs face a tough summer of trading with net transfer debt reaching almost £280million.

That figure is what Tottenham owe to other clubs for previous transfers – minus what they are owed for their own sales.

Football.London have now explained that Tottenham Hotspur find themselves in this difficult position due to their increasing transfer debt.

The outlet explains that most of their transfers have been done on credit in recent years, with Tottenham’s transfer payables (the money owed to clubs on players they have already signed) currently standing at a whopping £337m.

In that metric, Spurs are second only to London rivals Chelsea, who have accumulated a transfer debt of £479m.
As a result, Tottenham have been eating into their cash reserve, which has gone down from £198m at the financial year ending in 2023 to just £79m as of March 31, 2024.

So the £337m (gross) figure isn't including the Kane money and other transfer money owed to Spurs.
The £279m (net) figure includes deducted money owned to spurs for Kane et al by other clubs.

The point not being taken on board by the Telegraph is that ONLY £146m is due to be paid within 12 months - not the whole lot.

Its a position not unlike anyone with a mortgage - we might owe £100k+ but the only sum we need to make might be say £20k in the next 12 months to keep our home. Sure the transfer debt (and mortgage) needs to be paid sometime but its not a problem providing we keep paying the amounts contractually due.

Spurs have not made any big money transfers out (sales) in recent years, so the numbers are not too significant.

The sale of Kane happened AFTER 30 June 2024 so is NOT included in any of the numbers - his sale proceeds will be included in the accounts for year to 30 June 2025, likely to be published in March 2026. So your comments on Kane monies are not correct.

BTW probably 90% of all transfers in UK by ALL clubs are done by paying in instalments - so the Telegraph is factually wrong by saying its only in recent years that Spurs have done deals on credit. The only reason debt has increased is Spurs have bought almost a new squad since 2020 (estimated cost £700m odd) funded partly by cash paid, partly by selling clubs extending credit to Spurs by contractually agreeing deferred payment terms, and no doubt some bank debt (but not a lot of that visible).

I have no idea why anyone expects journalists, whether Alistair Gold or journalists to understand finances. Their job is to write stories to generate revenues - in this case they are making a mountain out of a mole hill to give them headlines to get more clicks. The fact they have NOT distinguished amounts due within 12 months and that due afterwards is a giveaway that the office junior has tried to source figures to create a story.

Levy will finance transfers any way he can, and if clubs are happy to give extended payment terms (and most clubs are) he'll happily accept the deferred payment terms - its just like using a credit card or taking out a mortgage.

So as I say expect some transfers irrespective of any big name sales by Spurs, its how the football transfer market works.
 
The point not being taken on board by the Telegraph is that ONLY £146m is due to be paid within 12 months - not the whole lot.

Its a position not unlike anyone with a mortgage - we might owe £100k+ but the only sum we need to make might be say £20k in the next 12 months to keep our home. Sure the transfer debt (and mortgage) needs to be paid sometime but its not a problem providing we keep paying the amounts contractually due.

Spurs have not made any big money transfers out (sales) in recent years, so the numbers are not too significant.

The sale of Kane happened AFTER 30 June 2024 so is NOT included in any of the numbers - his sale proceeds will be included in the accounts for year to 30 June 2025, likely to be published in March 2026. So your comments on Kane monies are not correct.

BTW probably 90% of all transfers in UK by ALL clubs are done by paying in instalments - so the Telegraph is factually wrong by saying its only in recent years that Spurs have done deals on credit. The only reason debt has increased is Spurs have bought almost a new squad since 2020 (estimated cost £700m odd) funded partly by cash paid, partly by selling clubs extending credit to Spurs by contractually agreeing deferred payment terms, and no doubt some bank debt (but not a lot of that visible).

I have no idea why anyone expects journalists, whether Alistair Gold or journalists to understand finances. Their job is to write stories to generate revenues - in this case they are making a mountain out of a mole hill to give them headlines to get more clicks. The fact they have NOT distinguished amounts due within 12 months and that due afterwards is a giveaway that the office junior has tried to source figures to create a story.

Levy will finance transfers any way he can, and if clubs are happy to give extended payment terms (and most clubs are) he'll happily accept the deferred payment terms - its just like using a credit card or taking out a mortgage.

So as I say expect some transfers irrespective of any big name sales by Spurs, its how the football transfer market works.
Kane was sold in 2023.
 
Kane was sold in 2023.

Fine, its a detail which doesn't affect the rest of the posts.

Key thing is not to rely on journalists who have no idea how to read a set of accounts where key numbers are debts due within 12 months and debts not due for more than 12 months are given yet NOT reflected in their stories.

Hence their stories are are puff pieces, good as click bait, not good enough to impart real information
 
I made the comment earlier that player sales numbers were not that large by comparison with those for player acquisitions.

The data for 2024 and 2023 is :

2024 - Debts due to Spurs from player sales £58m (includes £7m due after 12 months)
2023 - Debts due to Spurs from player sales £39m (includes £12m due after 12 months).

So if Kane sold in 2023, majority of his fee was received up front with a smaller part due later
 
Fine, its a detail which doesn't affect the rest of the posts.

Key thing is not to rely on journalists who have no idea how to read a set of accounts where key numbers are debts due within 12 months and debts not due for more than 12 months are given yet NOT reflected in their stories.

Hence their stories are are puff pieces, good as click bait, not good enough to impart real information
I was just explaining that the two transfer debt figures are gross and net, The money for Kane and other players sold by the club are already deducted from the net figure. You can't do that to the net figure again/

If you want to deduct the Kane figure use the Gross debt figure of £337m and not the net figure of £279m.

I get your point with the mortgage comparison the point i'm making is that Levy doesn't want the figure to grow, he's already said in his recent financial statement that "We cannot spend what we do not have".

It's also worth saying that the club would have expected to have been around 5th to 7th at the start of this season and spent accordingly, we've probably lost about £30m for being about 10 places below our forecast position.
 
I was just explaining that the two transfer debt figures are gross and net, The money for Kane and other players sold by the club are already deducted from the net figure. You can't do that to the net figure again/

If you want to deduct the Kane figure use the Gross debt figure of £337m and not the net figure of £279m.

I get your point with the mortgage comparison the point i'm making is that Levy doesn't want the figure to grow, he's already said in his recent financial statement that "We cannot spend what we do not have".

It's also worth saying that the club would have expected to have been around 5th to 7th at the start if this season and spent accordingly, we've probably lost about £30m for being about 10 places below our forecast position.

Agree on Levy's comment, but I think it may have been aimed at some supporters wanting Spurs to spend much more than we do, rather than it being a comment on not growing transfer debt (within reason). Can be taken either way, but I think he's happy to grow transfer debt a bit more (but just my opinion).

You are correct we have lost say £30m odd by finishing lower in PL than last season, but I think its just about made up by EL prize money getting to final which I calculate to be € 35.186m with a further 7m if we win it, and additionally we'll have made maybe 10m ish for the (8 ?) EL home games matchday revenues , so might even be slightly ahead of last year without europe. Expectation of course would have been the EL money was going to be additional to last season's earnings rather than earnings being more or less the same.
 
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