Tottenham facing up to reality check as stadium costs escalate

Mauricio Pochettino will still have to sell players in order to buy them next season despite an increased ground capacity

Mauricio Pochettino has expressed the belief on several occasions. When Tottenham Hotspur move into their 61,559-seat stadium next season, the club will enter a new era of financial power. “It would be the time to say: ‘Now, we will win the title,’” the manager said in December. The theory has been that the stadium’s increased revenues will help the club to attract and keep the A-list players.

The view has sat uncomfortably with the cost of construction. It seems a long time ago that £400m was the ballpark figure. Then, it became £750m and £850m, and now, nobody would be surprised if it reached a billion. Tottenham have taken out £400m in bank loans, which are repayable over a five-year period. This month they announced in their financial results for the year ended 30 June 2017 that the “cumulative spend” on the project had increased from £115.3m to £315.1m. The club’s profits were robust. They stood at £41.2m after interest and tax. But whichever way you dress it up, there is a lot of money to find. It is no wonder that the chairman, Daniel Levy, “struggles to sleep at night”, according to Pochettino.

Continue reading...

from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/30/tottenham-reality-check-stadium-costs-escalate-mauricio-pochettino