Tottenham: Lilywhite Rose details Daniel Levy ‘Masterclass’ amid Son Heung-min contract decision
John Wenham of Lilywhite Rose believes Daniel Levy pulled off a “masterclass” when negotiating Son Heung-min’s current Tottenham contract.
As reported by The Telegraph earlier this season (21 September 2023), Spurs will trigger a one-year extension in Son’s contract which will tie the 31-year-old to to the club until 2026.
This contract decision will spare Levy a summer of uncertainty when it comes to the future of one of his star players, which will provide the Spurs chairman with a much-needed break after the saga surrounding Harry Kane last summer.
Son put pen to paper on a new four-year deal with the club almost three years ago now (Sky Sports News, 23 July 2021), and supporters would have been left wondering about where their captain’s future lay had it not been for the one-year extension inserted in his deal.
Speaking on Son’s current terms in North London, Wenham has piled praise on Levy for his negotiation tactics.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, Wenham, the founder of reputable Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose, said: “They have the option to extend his deal, and that’s a no-brainer. It will keep Son contracted to Tottenham until 2026.
“Son will probably feel as if he deserves a pay rise, and he is right to feel that way, but with this option to extend it means that he is stuck on the existing terms he was on before.
“From Tottenham and Levy’s point of view, this is historically what they’ve always done, and it is very clever.
“Jan Vertonghen was paid £35,000 per week for almost the entire time he was at the club because Tottenham kept having these options to extend and he was just strung along on his existing terms while other players his level were paid much more.
“Levy is just very good at what he does and often pulls off a bit of a masterclass when negotiating these contracts.”
Daniel Levy has left Tottenham star Son Heung-min in a frustrating position
Son appears to be happy at Spurs and would have likely been open to committing this future to the club either way, but he is now forced to do so under his current terms.
Since he signed his most recent contract in 2021, Son’s reputation at the club has grown.
Ange Postecoglou named him club captain at the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign and following Kane’s departure, the South Korean has become the club’s leading goalscorer and arguably best player.
As a result, Son will feel as if he is entitled to a pay raise, but he is in no position to receive one thanks to Levy, who once again continues to have the club’s best interests from a financial point of view in his mind.
In other Tottenham news, one pundit believes Postecoglou will be concerned by what he saw at Spurs.
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