In The Money: Tottenham may now require helping hand from Arsenal for share of £4.2bn windfall
Tottenham have become accustomed to enjoying midweeks off during the first half of the 2023-24 campaign as a result of not being in Europe.
While it is always a good thing that players can rest up between Premier League matches, they will no doubt be watching the final round of Champions League group games with more than a little jealousy.
After all, finishing in the top four is pretty much the top priority for Spurs entering any campaign, and they have achieved that target more times than not over the past decade.
Tottenham’s ambitions this season seemed even loftier not so long ago when they were sitting top of the table, but it has since become clear that nailing down a top-four spot is again the aim this time around.
After a recent wobble, though, the Lilywhites find themselves sitting in fifth place and now three points behind Manchester City in fourth. Perhaps of more relevance is that Aston Villa are five points better off in third.
Realistically speaking, it is Villa who Spurs must now accept they are in a scrap with for fourth place. On the basis of the first few months of the campaign, Unai Emery’s men look set to put up one hell of a battle.
Finishing fifth has long appeared to be a potential safety net for chairman Daniel Levy as part of the restructuring of the Champions League next season, but that may no longer be the case.
As explained by ESPN [12 December], four additional teams will compete in the expanded 36-team group stage next season – two of those qualifying via the leagues that rank in the top two on UEFA’s coefficient list.
Heading into the final round of European fixtures this week – not just the Champions League, but also the Europa League and Europa Conference League – Germany and Italy lead the way. England are third on the coefficient list, followed closely by Spain.
With already-qualified Arsenal drawing against PSV on Tuesday (12 December) and Manchester United losing to Bayern Munich, thus exiting Europe altogether, that may well have huge consequences for Spurs.
Newcastle and Manchester City are due to be in Champions League action on Wednesday (13 December), while West Ham, Brighton and Aston Villa are also flying the flag for England in UEFA’s secondary and tertiary competitions.
In short, Spurs may need each of those teams to get wins on the board and progress, or else those additional Champions League spots next season will go to German and Italian sides.
To say that would have a big financial hit on Spurs is a massive understatement. As per The Times [9 May], the television rights income for next season’s competition has risen to a whopping £4.2billion – a 33-per-cent rise from this season.
Despite an additional four teams being involved, the report points out that some clubs – those that advance through the rather complicated group stage – are in line to earn an extra £30m per season.
You do not have to be Daniel Levy to acknowledge that is no small change.
Even using this season’s figures that have been confirmed by UEFA, via Sporting News, making it into the Champions League this time around landed clubs a £13.4million upfront payment.
Add on top of that an additional £2.2m payment for every win, or £736,000 for a draw, and you can see why it is such a lucrative competition – not just for the players, but for those in charge of the finances.
Indeed, Tottenham know all too well what a deep run in the competition can mean, having banked £88m when reaching the final in 2019 [Swiss Ramble].
Even if a repeat of that is not a realistic aim at this moment in time, simply being among those 36 teams is the immediate priority.
For that to happen, Tottenham either need to pick up their game in the Premier League and break back into the top four, or just hope their domestic rivals – Arsenal among them – can do them a favour.
In other Tottenham news, a Spurs ace has been hailed for something “magnificent” he did in the win over Newcastle United.