Why can't Spurs just sign 2 world class players?

TRANSFER TALK

Tottenham will have discussed with their targets the situation and the criteria by which a player will be signed. Ross Barkley knows Spurs want to pay Everton less than Everton are asking for a player with under a year left on his contract so will understand that a move won't go through until the end of the window when Everton are under the greatest pressure to sell and the greatest pressure to lower their expectations over price.

The alternative is for him to wind down his contract and sign next summer or in January, if Tottenham are the only destination he wants, which we are led to believe. From the outside we don't know the score, on the inside they will.

That of course leaves the press with nothing to write about so we keep getting stories about his wage demands, which through 'close sources' he has denied. The guy isn't stupid and knows we have a wage structure that won't be broken for him, the fact that he wants Spurs and to learn under Mauricio Pochettino demonstrates he knows and accepts that.

As mentioned earlier Aurier looks to be our first choice right-back selection, but we will have had discussions with a second choice who will know if we can't get Aurier we'll come for him and terms will all have been agreed in principle. Thus any delay is signing isn't really an issue and backs up our managers words at a recent press conference in the USA where he assured fans there will be signings before the end of the window.

As an example Aston Villa had a turnover of £109m (12th highest in the league) in their annual accounts to 31 May 2016. Their wage bill was £93m (7th highest, 85% of turnover).

They are in the Championship now and with a reducing income can't sustain that level of wage bill, thus they have to buy and sell to reduce it to a more manageable figure. Wigan never recovered as the Premier League parachute payments simply went in wages, no promotion and the club was in financial danger. You have to sell and reduce the wage bill, when you want to be building.

Tottenham have a wage structure that it is understandable we maintain. If we break it then we have to pay every player more, so it isn't simply a case of buying two world class players and paying them world class wages. The wage bill would rise massively with existing players then all demanding rises immediately and for the next 5 years.

Assume we brought in two players and paid them £120,000-a-week. Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Hugo Lloris and Toby Alderweireld would all want parity, or a £20,000-a-week wage increase. The assumption is of £100,000-a-week wages for them currently which we know they are not all on so the situation would be even worse than is painted here.

All other players would also want a similar wage increase so you have suddenly increased your wage bill (based on 15 existing players, not the full squad of 25) by £300,000 plus your two new signings, a total of £540,000-a-week.

That's £28.08m-a-year, or, if my calculations are right, a 13.37% increase in wages to turnover to 60.99%. factor in a £5,000-a-week wage increase for the remaining 10 squad players and that is another £50,000-a-week, so £590,000-a-week, £30.68m-a-year.

Signing just 2 new players on £120,000-a-week, with that knock on effect, could increase our wage bill by a whopping 14.60%. What do you then do next year, sign two more and increase it to unsustainable levels again, while still trying to pay for a new stadium?

How about on £130,000-a-week, four players wanting parity (4 x £30,000), ten wanting a £20,000-a-week increase and the final ten £7,500-a-week increase. Total bill £655,000-a-week, £34.06m annually. That is a 16.22% increase in wages to turnover. The more you raise your top wage the worse the situation gets.

We have money from sales you will no doubt cry, well factor in increased wages and transfer fees for 2 world class players and it is all gone, where does the money come from for the next 4 years as you have now increased your wages outgoings permanently? What if the club don't qualify for the UEFA Champions League and income therefore drops at least £30m-a-year.

You have just put the club in financial difficulty increasing outgoing by £34m and decreasing income by £30m with a stadium to pay for that in 20 home games is producing an extra £20m (£1m per game based ion Arsenal figures). That £44m annually has to come from somewhere.

We simply can not pay £150,000-a-week to a couple of players, let along the £250,000-a-week others are paying players. Tough as it is, we have to raise our commercial revenue first, then we can reinvest in wages, not gamble in the hope of money coming in as so many clubs have done before ant never recovered from.

Robbing Peter to pay for Paul is not a sensible practice. What we have now is room for manoeuvre next summer, we can't continue to offer wage increases based on performance and thus help to keep the players we have happy. Spend now and we tie our hands. The future has to be looked at, not just the present.

We would have to sell players and use more youngsters to keep the wage bill under control. Sissoko is an option, saving £85,000-a-week but that still leaves a sizeable amount to find at a time when we have ongoing stadium costs for years to come. Factoring in that still increases our wage against turnover by 12.5%.

Should we start adding release clause into contracts as they do in Spain and every wage increase means a raising of the release clause fee. Is that legally possible over here, I don't know enough about employment legislation to say. Obviously a fee would have to be set high, say £75 million on Eric Dier, £60 million on Danny Rose.

That is a slippery slope, would it then be easier for clubs with more money to snatch our players away, probably it would so there is a down side. Weighing it all up and the fact it is only richer clubs who would be purchasing, I'd come down on the side of not having release clauses. This is the issue with Toby Alderweireld, we don't want a release clause in his new contract.

Anyway, back to wages, Aston Villa had an unsustainable 85% of turnover paid out in wages, Crystal Palace 79% of turnover, Stoke City 79%, Sunderland 78% (relegated), Swansea City 85%, WBA 76%. How can these clubs grow as we have done and as we are continuing to do?

What about our rivals, how do we compare with them?

Manchester United
Turnover £515m (1st, the highest in the league)
Wages £232m (Highest in the league, 45% of turnover)

Turnover bigger than Spurs: £305m

Manchester City

Turnover £392m (2nd highest in the league)
Wages £198m (4th highest, 51% of turnover)

Turnover bigger than Spurs: £182m

Arsenal
Turnover £354m (3rd highest in the league)
Wages £195m (5th highest, 55% of turnover)

Turnover bigger than Spurs: £144m

Chelsea
Turnover £335m (4th highest in the league)
Wages £224m (2nd highest, 67% of turnover)

Turnover bigger than Spurs: £125m

Liverpool

Turnover £302m (5th highest in the league)
Wages £208m (3rd highest, 69% of turnover)

Turnover bigger than Spurs: £92m

Tottenham Hotspur

Turnover £210m (6th highest in the league)
Wages £100m (6th highest, 48% of turnover)

The figures show we pay a greater percentage of our turnover on wages than Manchester United do and our figures are in line with UEFA guidelines.

The more turnover you have the more you can pay out in wages, that's obvious and it should be remembered that Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City all have new stadiums, although Manchester City didn't build there one. 

We still have the cost of building ours and as that is going to help increase our turnover, can't be put in jeopardy.

Simply pay the money isn't as simple as people make it out to be.

---

Trending at No1 Spurs Website THBN - the fan website that supports Spurs
Spurs youngsters win in Europe
PSG have reportedly lowered the price for Spurs target Aurier

More stories from No1 Spurs Website THBN - the fan website that supports Spurs
Spanish and Qatari press on Neymar leaving Barcalona
VIDEO: Spurs vs Man City highlights and full game
Roma interested in Spurs-linked Argentina striker
Pep is a big Spurs fan

---

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: