New Spurs owners chase TV cash

Adrian Curtis13 April 2012

Tottenham's prospective new owners, ENIC Sports, want to negotiate a multi-million pound deal with a media company as soon as their takeover of the club is completed later this month.

ENIC will seek investment in Spurs from a TV company such as Sky, NTL, Telewest or Carlton Communications.

The money from the deal would be used to buy new players and to offer improved deals to England internationals Sol Campbell and Darren Anderton, both of whom are poised to leave at the end of the season.

ENIC, who are in the process of buying 26.9 per cent of Tottenham from majority shareholder Alan Sugar, say they expect Spurs to take advantage of players who become available at the five other clubs in which they have a stake - Slavia Prague, Rangers, Vicenza, AEK Athens and FC Basle.

Spurs have already been linked with a move for Vicenza striker Luca Toni.

It is by no means a foregone conclusion that George Graham will be paid off when ENIC take over.

The Spurs manager has drawn up his list of transfer targets, which includes a striker with one of the longest names in football, Jan Vennegor of Hesselink - a £5m-rated Dutch Under-21 international who plays for Twente Enschede.

Also on Graham's list are Everton's Francis Jeffers, Lecce's Christiano Lucarelli, and Paris St Germain defender Sylvain Distain.

Graham, angered that an unbeaten run of eight games stretching back to 2 January has been overshadowed by speculation about his future, may get the money to buy at least some of the players on his wish list if ENIC can clinch a media deal.

ENIC chairman Stephen Davidson said: "Over recent years, we have built up significant expertise in relation to sports media rights.

"Tottenham are one of the last remaining Premier League clubs not to have signed a major multi-media deal.

"The board believes that the long term profitability and capital value of Tottenham can be significantly enhanced through further exploitation of media and sporting rights associated with the club.

"ENIC can offer assistance towards achieving this result. The acquisition will enhance the media platforms that will be available to both ENIC and Tottenham. ENIC also has access to an enlarged player base across six European countries from which all of its football investments can benefit."

The maximum stake a media company could hold in Tottenham while retaining an interest in others is 9.9 per cent.

BSkyB already have a tie-up with Chelsea and hold 9.9 per cent of Manchester United.

Leeds United and Manchester City have both sold 9.9 per cent stakes to BSkyB for a combined total of around £23m and the same company also bought five per cent of Sunderland for £6.5m.

NTL have an interest in Newcastle and Granada paid Liverpool £22m for a 9.9 per cent stake.

Tottenham' s 1-0 win at Manchester City - their first away victory in the Premiership this season - came courtesy of a Sergei Rebrov goal, his second in successive games.

Graham said: "I think he has been quite surprised by the intensity of our game.

"He has also been surprised by the fact that when you play teams lower down in the league, they are actually difficult matches. He cannot understand that.

" In the Ukraine, Dynamo Kiev would have probably beaten teams at the bottom by four, five or six goals, so he didn't appreciate the effort you have to put in away from home.

"I've tried to keep the pressure off him as much as possible and tried not to make too many demands on him during the week in training or after games."

Tottenham's unbeaten run includes two FA Cup wins, but also four goalless draws in the Premiership.

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