Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium, which is under construction, is expected to usurp Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium as one of the leading grounds in world football. The club are planning to move to their new 61000 capacity stadium at the start of 2019/20 campaign and the stadium will also host fixtures from National Football League.

Tottenham’s new project will potentially lift the club’s status as one of the biggest in England and will help them compete with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal in terms of facilities and size.

A huge hurdle that the club may face, however, is the naming rights for the stadium. According to The Times, the North London club will let go of their current name, in a bid to secure some investment, with Daniel levy planning to raise £400 million in order to finance the construction of the new stadium.

Former executive director Paul Barber, who worked closely with Daniel Levy during his six years at Tottenham between 2005 and 2011, was privy to the chairman’s negotiating skills during a period that included the sale of then-27-year-old Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United for £30.75m. The current Brighton and Hove Albion chief executive seems to have faith in his former employer and assures that Levy would clinch a multi-million pound deal for the club and shares the opinion that the new facility could outperform that of rivals Arsenal.

Barber, a childhood Tottenham fan, said while speaking at the Sport Industry Breakfast Club (via The Times):

“As always it is about market and price; the higher the price the smaller the market. Daniel is a great negotiator and an amazing businessman and if anyone in this market can get a great price it is Daniel Levy. I think Tottenham have got an amazing stadium, everything I’ve seen about it and heard about it; it is another level.”

“The Emirates set a level, and Tottenham is going beyond that. That is not a cheap shot at Arsenal, it is another level. It is potentially one of the most exciting stadiums in the world. Amazing credit needs to go to Daniel for the vision he had, the determination and ability to push and when to retreat and get the thing out of the ground and when to push his most expensive seats and sell them. Anyone who underestimated his ability to get naming rights deals is underestimating the wrong person.”

Potentially, the naming rights deal would prove massive for Tottenham and will ease the financial pressure on the club for many reasons. Daniel Levy seems to be the man who is finally taking Tottenham above Arsenal off the pitch. However, work still needs to be done on the pitch, with Tottenham finishing below their rivals last season, despite being the better team for a majority of the season.

Times are changing in North London and a fight for power shift seems to be on the cards with Tottenham raising their levels.