After Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, Qatar was the latest Middle East player in recent months reported to enter the Premier League.
A takeover of Man United, considered all but done for months, did not materialise ultimately, much to the dismay of the Old Trafford faithful.
That said, another club may be set to benefit from United’s loss.
Sheikh Jassim linked with Tottenham takeover
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani of Qatar has returned to the English football scene, as reported by TBR Football, as he is one of many contenders to put in a bid for Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy admitted in a recent fan forum that the club were actively looking for new investors.
“We announced with our last results that we believe this club needs a bigger capital base because we’ve got a lot of exciting projects on the horizon and we want to make further investment in the teams.
“Some form of minority investment is what we’re looking for. We’ve got nothing to announce at the moment but we are in the market.”
Levy on the Tottenham takeover situation, as quoted by Evening Standard.
Amanda Staveley, recently of Newcastle United who brought not only the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to Tyneside but also brokered the Abu Dhabi Group deal for Man City back in 2008, is also in the market for investment in another Premier League club and is expected to work towards forming a bid for the North London club.
ENIC, the British investment company that owns Spurs, values the club at £3.75 billion.
A move Spurs fans would want
As the recent examples of Man City and Newcastle (even Man United when the Qatari bid was actively pursuing the club) have shown us, any and all moral dilemmas a club’s fanbase may have regarding the geo-political implications of sports-washing undertaken by nation-states disappear overnight and into thin air as soon as it’s their club linked with a takeover by one such state or one with close links to one.
That’s the reality of modern-day football. As long as an incessant stream of mind-boggling money is available to turn the fortunes of your club around, no one really cares about the beyond-football implications. So one can understand why, of all the possible bidders, Spurs fans would want a prospective Qatari bid to succeed.
Daniel Levy is a shrewd businessman, above all, and he has also previously been in talks with PSG-owning Qatari Sports Investment (QSI) for a stake in Spurs. Make no mistake: if Qatar can be brought on board, he will do whatever it takes for the betterment of Tottenham.
