Daniel Levy, the Tottenham Hotspur chairman, has made a thinly veiled dig at Jeremy Peace, his opposite number at West Bromwich Albion chairman, with whom he clashed over the Saido Berahino affair, suggesting that his making public of the striker’s transfer request was “wholly disrespectful” to the player.
Levy issued a statement on Tottenham Hotspur’s official website in response to the criticism of his dealings during the summer transfer window, in which he failed to sign Berahino and has left Mauricio Pochettino, the manager, with only one recognised striker. The chairman referred to what he called his policy of “pragmatic player trading” and he suggested that it was linked to the financing of the club’s new stadium, which will cost between £400m and £450m and is scheduled to be ready for the 2018-19 season.
Tottenham’s attempt to sign Berahino sparked acrimony on all sides, with Peace and West Brom making five public statements over the past two weeks to detail how they had rejected a series of bids for the 22-year-old, together with his own written transfer request. West Brom complained about how Tottenham had structured their offers, with it emerging that one of the opening two had featured payments of £3.5m each year for five years and the final one, on deadline day – which was worth £22.5m – to be spread over a similar period with an initial down-payment of £6.5m.
West Brom also blamed Tottenham for unsettling Berahino, although the London club deny this. They maintain that the damage was done by West Brom’s statements, particularly the one which revealed that Berahino had submitted his transfer request.
Levy sought the moral high ground in his statement when he said that Tottenham had never spoken about another team’s players in public and he was not about to start now. “However,” Levy continued, “I do want to make a few general points regarding transfers. Firstly, there is hardly a transfer concluded across Europe which doesn’t include staged payments. This is particularly so when significant amounts such as £20m-£30m are involved – players don’t come cheaply these days.
“Secondly, we do not make anything personal. None of the proposals, discussions or negotiations we undertake involve any personal elements or ego – everything we do is in the interest of what is best for our club.
“Thirdly, we never make anything public, particularly in the best interests of the players involved. Making aspects such as transfer requests public is wholly disrespectful to a player.”
Levy’s great personal ambition has been to relocate his club into a state-of-the-art new stadium, and the plans for Tottenham’s 61,000-capacity venue have stirred excitement. “Our pragmatic player trading has been important in the way we have run the business of the club and in getting us to the position where we have now been able to start work on a new stadium – the one thing that has the ability to take this club to the next level of competitiveness,” Levy continued. “I make no apologies for being ambitious for our club and looking to deliver future success for our fans.”
Pochettino was quoted in the statement and he said that he was not worried about having only Harry Kane as a recognised striker. The club have added the attacking players Son Heung-min and Clinton N’Jie, who have tended to work off the flanks. “Much has been said about us having only one recognised striker in Harry [but] I don’t accept this at all,” Pochettino said. “The positional play of today’s forwards means it’s too simplistic to look for goals from any one position – playing a fluid style means players switch. Also, we secured Sonny and Clinton in the knowledge that we may not be adding any other forward.
“I have been very clear that we would add only players we felt would improve us and, if any one player was not possible, then I prefer we do not add for the sake of it. This season we start with a combination of our own players who have come through the ranks and players that bring skills and experience from other leagues. Most importantly, it’s a squad of players with heart – it’s a squad I’m proud to field.”
