Tottenham are potentially just one set of talks away from unlocking a financial fair play goldmine.
Spurs finished the season in 5th place, outside the top four for the third season running. And that means no lucrative Champions League football again next term.
Financially, that’s a big deal. The North Londoners’ turnover for 2022-23, the last time they were in Europe’s premier competition, was a club-record £500m.
However, the club’s emphasis on long-term profitability means they are in a strong position when it comes to the Premier League‘s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR, or FFP as it used to be known).
The top flight will vote on 6th June on whether to introduce a squad cost control ratio that limits clubs to spending 85 per cent of the turnover on wages, transfers and agent fees.
Also on the ballot is an anchoring system which would dictate that clubs will be unable to spend more than a multiple (likely to be four or five times) of the lowest-paid club’s TV cash across those three areas.
And one more possible item on the agenda could prove particularly lucrative for Spurs if the motion passes.
Premier League clubs discussed ‘auctioning off’ FFP headroom
As reported by iNews, clubs have discussed the idea of ‘auctioning off’ FFP headroom.
Essentially, this means that clubs with the wiggle room to spend under Profit and Sustainability could sell off the excess to other teams who need it either to conform with PSR or to increase their playing budget.
The idea is believed to still be in its infancy and it is not known for certain whether it will be discussed at the AGM on 6th June.
However, if it is, or even if it is raised as a possibility with a view to using it as an alternative system further down the line, it could revolutionise the league’s finances, creating a quasi secondary transfer market.
Why would this be good for Tottenham
According to analysis fromOff The Pitch, Spurs are one of just three Premier League sides – the other being Brighton and Brentford – who are guaranteed to have headroom under the new PSR regulations.
The analysis, which it should be noted is based on Spurs’ 2022-23 season, the last for which data is available, shows that Spurs have around £20m of headroom.
Extrapolated over the course of a rolling three-year FFP assessment window, Spurs could be sitting on £60m of headroom.
If Spurs return to Europe over the course of the next assessment window, that figure could easily rise to £100m.
While the approach has at times frustrated supporters, Daniel Levy‘s emphasis on long-term profitability, wage control and commercial progression would very much bare fruit in this situation.