Iranian-American billionaire Jahm Najafi is reported to be putting together a consortium led by MSP Sports Capital to make a £3.1bn takeover bid for Tottenham; however, no approach has been made and Spurs have had no contact with any proposed bidders
Thursday 16 February 2023 06:07, UK
Tottenham are not for sale and its owners are totally committed to their long-term plans for the Premier League club.
Iranian-American billionaire Jahm Najafi is reported by the Financial Times to be putting together a consortium led by MSP Sports Capital to make a £3.1bn takeover bid for the north London club.
However, there has been no approach to Tottenham and no contact with the proposed bidders.
Tottenham is a prized asset for investors because of its location, stadium, training ground and regular Champions League qualification.
The club also owns land around their stadium which they are planning to redevelop and which is of interest to potential investors.
Spurs are believed to be talking to investors about their redevelopment plans, but the club is not on the market.
Only a sky-high offer would tempt ENIC, the group that owns Spurs, to sell and that would need to be considerably more than the £2.5bn the consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital paid for London rivals Chelsea in May last year.
Najafi was born in Iran and moved to the United States in 1975 when he was 12 years old.
He set up MSP with former sports agent Jeff Moorad and the company owns a 15-per-cent stake in the McLaren Formula 1 team, and has interests in football clubs in Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Germany.
MSP have also been in talks about buying a minority stake in Everton and Najafi was pictured at Goodison Park during the Toffees' defeat to Southampton in January.
Tottenham's revenue of £444m reported in their latest accounts is the ninth highest in world football, according to the Deloitte Money League, while the club's wage bill of £209m is the lowest of the Premier League's 'big six'.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, Spurs' net transfer spend of £424m over the past five seasons is the fourth highest in the world, behind Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.
