View: Summer net spend shows Tottenham made some progress but not enough
It was a record-breaking summer for the Premier League in terms of spending and while Tottenham were one of the league’s big spenders, contextually, it was still not enough.
As reported by Sky Sports News (2 September), the total expenditure of all Premier League clubs combined was the highest it has ever been throughout one summer, coming in at a staggering total of £2.44billion.
Although, while plenty of money was spent, clubs also broke the record for the amount generated from player sales in one summer, raising £1.36billion. As a result, the overall net spend of all 20 Premier League clubs combined was £1.07billion – the second-highest total in history, coming just behind the 2022/23 summer’s net spend of £1.29billion.
Once again, it was an example of how money continues to rule in the world of football and for those clubs not splashing the cash, they are unfortunately at risk of getting left behind. Each club’s individual spending total suggests that the Premier League’s ‘big six’ continue to lead the way, with Tottenham coming in third, behind Chelsea and Manchester City, yet ahead of Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Spurs spent a total of £212.3million on brand-new signings, with the likes of Micky van de Ven and Brennan Johnson brought to the club. Meanwhile, they ranked sixth for the amount of money raised from player sales, raking in £110million, thanks almost entirely to the sale of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.
In total, it gives Tottenham a net spend of £102.3million, which sees them rank seventh, behind Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle, Arsenal, Bournemouth and Liverpool.
While on paper this seems like a sign of intent and progress from Daniel Levy and the Tottenham board, a closer look suggests it was not quite as positive a summer as people might think.
Considering where the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool all finished in relation to Tottenham last season, the north London outfit should have been looking to invest more than those teams to try and improve their squad and close the gap.
After a season finishing eighth and conceding 63 league goals, a net spend of just over £100million is quite simply not enough. In addition, both Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski have been included as ‘summer signings’ for the club as their loans were made permanent during the transfer window, despite already being with the club last season.
While this is still technically an expenditure, it doesn’t represent any fresh improvement to the squad, and when subtracting the total spent on the pair, it reduces Spurs’ net spend on new additions this summer to practically nothing in comparison to the league’s other top teams.
Therefore, while the stats on the club’s spending might paper over the cracks, the deeper dive reveals that not enough money was spent in order to close the gap to the top sides in the division, and once again, a lack of ambition was shown by the board.
In other Tottenham news, John Wenham believes it is time for one player, who couldn’t find a move away this summer, to leave the club.