Journalist says ENIC may be forced to finally inject cash into Tottenham this summer

The Telegraph’s Matt Law has explained why ENIC are reconsidering their approach to running Tottenham Hotspur, and it could involve pumping money into the club this summer.

ENIC have invested just £122.1m into Tottenham since buying the club in 2001, which amounts to just £5.3m per season.

Spurs fans are desperate to see that change and reports over recent weeks have indicated that we might finally see that this summer.

Earlier this month, it emerged that ENIC may be prepared to pump funds into Tottenham, with the shakeup at board level this summer expected to be a prelude to them investing some money into the club.

Matt Law claims ENIC have pushed themselves into a corner

Tottenham can spend £273m this summer without falling foul of PSR regulations, but Matt Law points out that the club simply do not have the cash flow to spend big unless there is external investment or more equity pumped in.

He reveals that with Tottenham Hotspur unable to find investment over the last 12 months, ENIC could now finally decide to abandon their old playbook, as there is now an acceptance that they need to put some money into the club.

The journalist said on The Last Word on Spurs (20:35): “The last set of accounts were fascinating because the last set of accounts told us two things: Tottenham have a big problem with cash at the moment. They have the highest net transfer to still pay on all their deals, something like £250 million.

“In the whole league, they have the most money still left to pay on outstanding transfers because of the way they do transfers and they have spent money.

“Obviously, a lot of times we accuse ENIC and the board of not spending money. They have spent money, but they haven’t spent the kind of money you need to win a league and the problem is, they’ve spent this money without investment into the club. ENIC haven’t been really putting in any money whatsoever, and there’s nothing really coming back in.

“When you compare them against other clubs, of the investment they’re either getting in from outside or the investment from their current owners, there’s nothing coming back in. It’s hard to understand with Tottenham, because they’re in a brilliant PSR position, they’ve got all the PSR headroom in the world.

“In terms of actual cash to go out and spend on transfers, it’s got really dangerously low. We heard from Daniel Levy a year ago on the accounts, previous to the last one, where he actually came out and said they were looking for investment. Well, there’s been no investment in that 12 months, and then on the last set of accounts, his statement was, ‘we cannot spend what we haven’t got’.  

“It was all there in the accounts, and it’s all there in what Daniel has. They either need ENIC to invest or they need outside investment, one or the other, otherwise, they are hamstrung, and the only way they’ll be able to buy players is by selling players.

“I personally think the changes, and what I’m told the changes are because I think there is an acceptance that ENIC will have to invest some money, because there isn’t any outside investment at the moment, or certainly not significant, and therefore ENIC are taking a little bit of control back with some of these changes in return for putting some money into the club.

“They recognise that otherwise, the club are in desperate, not desperate straits in terms of the financial health of the club, but in terms of being able to operate in the transfer window and not fall back even further that they’re going to be in difficulty.”

Champions League qualification has put Tottenham in a strong position

Until a couple of months ago, it was reported that Tottenham had to sell players before they could this summer, due to the club’s high transfer debt, which Law references.

However, Tottenham’s coffers are expected to be boosted by around £180m, owing to their participation in next season’s Champions League.

It has thus been claimed by many sources that Thomas Frank is expected to be handed a ‘substantial budget’ this summer, with ENIC now said to be taking ‘a greater interest in the club’s operations.

READ MORE: Tottenham want to squeeze £11m out of Manchester United owners INEOS

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