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With the squad we have, we need to sell/loan out to buy anyone..........and not that many clubs have the finances to take on players we want to move on (same as in the summer), so no surprise if there is not much activity as Mourhino said in the pre-match interview released today.
Maybe one (or two) in if we can both move on players and upgrade on what we have now - and it's perfectly possible we cannot move players on so no activity. But I suspect we would like to make one good upgrade if we can.
Good summary, would put a caveat on the wages as Spurs pay heavily with bonuses and I would suspect those have decreased year on year. The club is in a very healthy financial position with record cash reserves. IF the right player(s) come available no question we will buy, however that's not considered likely.Worth a look to see where Spurs might be financially given its the start of the January Transfer Window.
Last Year to 30 June 2020 'Profit from operations, excluding football trading and before depreciation and exceptional items, was £115.3m (See opening post in this thread)'
But that included (and again see Opening post) :
1. PL matchday and catering receipts of £81.9m and Gate receipts from the UEFA Champions League and domestic cup competitions were £12.6m (total £94.5m).
2 Revenues from non football events and newly started exhibitions and conferences business say £25m (guestimate)
And those revenue streams not happening this season (if no change to June 2021) means, with nothing else changing Spurs break even.
But we also know we signed another 7 players (with Eriksen, not on that high wages, the only notable leaver), and if those 7 players wages averaged £100 pw would add an extra £35m costs every year.
But we've probably reduced costs associated with the lost revenue streams - both wages and non wages costs (although there appear to be no redundancies) of lets say £30m
So taking into account changes in costs, the likelihood is that in the 6 months to end December, Spurs may be running at about 'break even' on operations before player trading - and hoping for matchday revenues to return at some time in the 2nd half of the season.
So with that background, if I were Levy I'd probably be happy to invest a little for the right player/deal (or two) in the January transfer window to help secure CL next season.
Given it will probably need to be borrowed monies its probably capped at say £30m net transfer fund - compared with something like £50m in the summer.
Any thoughts on financial performance to end December from your inside sourcesThe Outsider
The biggest issue is getting rid of players - nobody wants to buy ageing players on huge salaries so sponsored loans are the only real options - there are apparently as many as eight players who could be loaned out either to save wages or to gain playing time.
Sadly we would it seems also sell Hugo for the right price, age is a factor but also the fact that we still for now have two other top keepers, that would in my view be a mistake. The rumour of a Hugo/Dele double deal with PSG has not been confirmed or denied maybe that's a package deal but who knows, these days cards are played very close nobody is talking.
The ongoing issue is not enough HG players - an expensive issue to address.
Thanks
The HG issue can be solved within a year or two if Mourhino manages the situation properly.
Club trained players currently : Kane, Winks, Bale and Whiteman
Coming through : Tanganga and Skipp.
Other Association trained players currently : Dele, Hart, Clarke
Coming through : Sessegnon (doing ok at Hoffenheim) and possibly Clarke (if he gets the right loan)
What needs to happen is to ensure appropriate levels of games are given to youngsters coming through whether at Spurs or on loan - players such as Harvey White, Dennis Cirkin and a few others at the 18/19 year old level and down to the 16 year olds Scarlett and Devine who are probably 3 years away from the first team.
The question is whether Mourhino will manage the situation - we do need a much more focused professional approach than currently probably employing a professional Loan manager and development manager, both of which need recruiting.
If we do not get more professional in bringing youngsters through we will fail (again)
And of course be careful when recruiting - either Eze or Bowen (or even Watkins ) bought in the summer to replace one of Moura or Lamela would have been a good move for example.
Mourinho has very little say on transfers and salaries, sure he puts in his wish list but the club transfer committee and finance committee call the shots - not sure anyone sees Mourinho as more than a short term appointment, he will be indulged but he will not dictate long term policy.
Spurs want to have the best academy (so does every big club) to create a production line, they also want to maximise the loan system to develop players and make money, these are long term aims placed above the manager level. The impact of Brexit is not fully understood yet either, will Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland still be treated as separate for example?
The "wish list" remains for three big UK names to replace three big non UK names ... that's been the desire for two years clearly easier said than done. If Dele leaves that transition becomes even more important.
Mourhino may have little say on transfers - but he does decide team selection. And from that point of view it might have been a good plan to give the likes of Harvey White a few 15/20 minute cameos in EL matches and even possibly in one or two PL matches (rather than one of 10 minutes), given a good pre-season playing in the first team. Obviously JM will select when its appropriate to put on a youngster probably preferably when Spurs are a couple of goals ahead.
With that minimal first team involvement, its then easier to give the youngster a loan and hopefully a full half season or full season of matches after which he's then much better equipped/experienced to be given more first team minutes at Spurs.
In White's case I would hope the conversation with JM is 'how much will you play White' in the 2nd half of the season ? And then consider loan opportunities.
And all the above is where Spurs seem to lack a management/coaching structure to bring youngsters through to solve the HG issue - something I thought Birch might deal with. Curiously Sherwood seemed to do that part of the role well.
I'm disappointed in the summer TW we did not seem to push the button on Eze or Bowen (or Watkins) to replace Moura or Lamela who I suspect might even be an upgrade - but could understand its difficult to move players on. But not doing that is why we have an HG problem now.
Brexit may impact on transfers and youth training - but UEFA's rules will not change and already state that clubs affiliated to the FA (ie not Wales - clubs such as Swansea - or Scotland) can give us HG players whilst PL rules say English and Welsh. And rules limiting international transfers of players under 18 came into being recently, which make the transfers of the likes of Fabregas difficult in making the player less likely to be HG (although not impossible). So the rules are already pretty clear.
In terms of our academy, after ManCity and Chelsea, Spurs have fallen a notch below Woolwich in recent years with Man U and Liverpool hot on our heels - I posted on this in youth thread a week ago - so our academy might do with a little more attention but is in a good place to produce good youngsters.
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We have a sleeve sponsor. No idea how much for.
Guessing business genius Levy had to eventually cave when he realised holding out for two seasons has cost more than it saved.
Whatever money he got, we've lost money by not having one as soon as we could. Liverpool are already on their second one. He was too hung up on not wanting to get a sleeve sponsor that impacted on our ability to get the best stadium naming deal, which he still hasn't managed because he's holding out for an unreasonable amount.
Hardly a blue chip company either, this was the first thing I thought of when I googled them:
I guess Levy didn't forsee the pandemic coming. I don't see a long list of people who did........
Without the pandemic, holding out for the best deal would have been fine given the profitability we had without the sleeve or stadium sponsorship. Even without those sponsorships we are probably financially better off than most others with decent revenue streams and lower than most player wages........but more cash useful in these times.
Tottenham Hotspur sells private placements to repay CCFF loans
Tottenham Hotspur FC has raised a further £250m of US private placements, to pay off Bank of England loans signed during the coronavirus pandemic.
www.globalcapital.com
The Outsider
Good news
God bless America !? Enlarge the transfer pot, although not by £250m, as the £175m government loan taken out to replace lost revenues due to covid, but Spurs would have made a profit of £100m or so if revenues loat.
So its a bit of a lottery as to how much might be available for transfes.
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The only thing to pay attention to is the revenue growth. If revenue grows from 2019 levels we are sitting on an absolute gold mine. If revenue is relatively flat we're fine and in better shape than at old WHL, and if revenue enters a durable decline we're fucked.
Will also be interesting to see revenues generated by other non-football events at the stadium. Once things open back up a little more and concerts and other events become more frequent, it could have a very meaningful impact on helping pay back the loan.
That’s five years away
Agree, but at every single turn I see fans criticise the club for trying to increase revenues.
I'm not saying we should just let them charge whatever btw, there's obviously a balance. The non football events are the best money spinner as they have no effect on Spurs fans....but people still get pissed off by those.
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Good news is that the new bonds are repayable in between 15 years and 30 years, with interest at an average of just over 2.75% pa (circa £7m pa) so very manageable. Just need to remember to start buying them back in say say 10 years time (just prudent to do so).
Nothing wrong with increasing revenues mate.
It's seeing the increased revenues used for building projects, infrastructure, boosting boardroom salaries, and posting record profit margins.
..While the football team simultaneously suffers years of chronic underinvestment and the longest trophy drought in our post war history.
Surely you can understand why fans feel uncomfortable with this?