Tottenham Hotspur: How much is the club worth amid takeover links?

After three takeover attempts, Tottenham Hotspur have insisted the club is not for sale following the exit of their former chairman Daniel Levy.

But how much are Spurs worth?

Chelsea hold the record in the Premier League for a sale of £4.25bn and football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes Tottenham's value is just shy of the sum paid by Clearlake Capital in 2022.

Since Levy left Spurs following his 25-year reign, American tech entrepreneur Brooklyn Earick has ruled out making a formal takeover bid after an informal expression of interest was "unequivocally rejected".

Last month, the club also rejected approaches from former Newcastle United shareholder Amanda Staveley's PCP International Finance Limited and a consortium led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng.

While Tottenham's true value is dependant on the fee the owners would accept, Maguire estimates that it could take between £3.5bn to £4bn to buy the club.

"Chelsea went [for] five times their revenue," he said. "Spurs' revenue is probably in the region of £550m to £600m. You multiply that by five and you're probably looking at somewhere just short of three billion pounds.

"But when Manchester United were partially acquired by Sir Jim Ratcliffe a couple of years ago, for every pound of revenue, they were valued at around about seven. You apply that to Spurs and you are probably looking three and a half to four billion."

Despite Tottenham's failure to win the top-flight since 1960-61, the club is an attractive proposition for potential investors.

The club is located in London, their 62,850-capacity stadium is one of the most impressive in the country, and they also have an agreement to host up to 30 major non-football events per year - including NFL matches, concerts and boxing events.

"Anybody buying Spurs, they've already future-proofed a lot of the spending that you might have to consider," Maguire told BBC Sport.

"It's about as future-proofed a stadium as you could possibly hope for. The training facilities have also had huge investment."

Off the field, Tottenham's history, lure and commercial potential make them an attractive buy.

"They don't have PSR (profit sustainability rules) worries because they do keep their costs low," Maguire said.

"If you are going to put money into Spurs, all of that money is going to go on to the playing side of things. You've also got the London factor, which makes it very attractive."

"Spurs as a business proposition are very, very attractive."

In May 2022, a consortium led by American investor Todd Boehly bought Chelsea for £4.25bn from Roman Abramovich.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 27.7% takeover of Man Utd in February 2024 valued them at around £4.5bn.

Newcastle's sale to the Public Investment Fund in October 2021 was completed for £305m, but Maguire adds that the world of football has "exploded" since then.

"As far as Spurs are concerned the infrastructure investment has been substantial," explains Maguire.

"It does mean that you inherit a club with money owed to the banks but since the move from the old White Hart Lane to the new [stadium], they have more than trebled their matchday income. They have quadrupled commercial income and they've managed to reap the benefits, so that does put them at an advantage.

"The disadvantage that Spurs have got, and this is not being disrespectful to the club, the trophy cabinet doesn't have as many trophies in as either Chelsea or Manchester United. Therefore, perhaps the global element of the fan base, built on the back of success on the pitch, isn't there to the same extent at Spurs.

"At the same time there is a huge waiting list for people who want to see every match there."

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

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