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Alasdair Gold & Rob Guest

Daniel Levy responds to Tottenham takeover talk and if he would be tempted to sell the club

Daniel Levy has stated that Tottenham are not in negotiations with anybody regarding a potential takeover of the north London club. At the turn of the year, Spurs were in the headlines regarding the possibility of Qatar Sports Investments investing in the club and Iranian-American billionaire Jahm Najafi was also mentioned regarding a takeover worth £3.1billion.

football.london reported in January that Levy and QSI head Nasser Al-Khelaifi had met in a London hotel and the subject of investing in the club was discussed among other topics, although the club categorically denied that was the case. Levy and PSG owner Al-Khelaifi have been friends for years, having dealt with each other in the transfer market on a number of occasions as well as through the European Club Association, with the pair understood to meet up whenever their paths place them in the same city at the same time.

Amid the previous talk of a potential takeover of Tottenham, Levy, when speaking to Cambridge Union on Tuesday, March 14, was quizzed on the reports and if a bid came in for the club would he be tempted to sell.

READ MORE: Daniel Levy describes what is making him feel sick at Tottenham amid honest Arsenal verdict

"I answer this question in the way I've answered it for the past 22 years," responded the Tottenham chairman. "ENIC owns approximately 87 per cent of the club. We have 30,000 shareholders and most of them are fans who own the shares. We have a duty to consider any proposal anyone wants to make.

"All I would say is we are not in negotiations with anybody, nor have we been in recent months. All the stuff that has been in the newspapers is completely untrue."

Thousands of Tottenham fans have called for change over the past couple of years with many disillusioned with what is happening on the pitch and where the club are heading after failing to progress since Mauricio Pochettino's exit in November 2019. Last winning a trophy in the 2007/08 campaign, even the appointments of serial winners Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte didn't help the Lilywhites put an end to their trophy hoodoo.

When asked about what has been his proudest achievement on the pitch in the last 22 years, Levy opened up on the progress the club has made in his time in N17 but stated that he is "absolutely not" happy that the team haven't won more than one trophy in the last 15 years.

"We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago with all our, we have about 750 staff in Tottenham, we got everyone together and we put up a big picture with lots of trophies in it. It is about winning, but winning dependent on the moment in time you asked that question to various people means different things," he explained.

"So when we first came in to Tottenham, winning was making sure we stayed in the Premier League. Then as time goes on and we got more successful it was about getting into the Europa League and then the Champions League. Obviously the ultimate is to win the trophies.

"So that is clearly what we are trying to do. It’s easier said than done. Am I happy that we haven't won more than one trophy in the last 15 years? Absolutely not. But I also think we've had some fantastic times, being in the Champions League a number of times. Despite the fact I feel sick that there’s a club in north London that’s a bit higher than us at this moment in time, if I look back in the last five years we've also been higher than them. So that's what happens."

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