‘He has no football understanding’ – Ex-Tottenham director speaks on Levy

Lewis Oldham
Tottenham chief Daniel Levy

Former Tottenham director of football Frank Arnesen has suggested that Daniel Levy “has no understanding about the football game”.

Arnesen played 52 times for Denmark between 1977 and 1988. He went onto have a year-long spell as Spurs’ director of football.

The 65-year-old left in 2005 to take up the same role at Chelsea. He is currently at Eredivisie side Feyenoord.


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Levy is the longest-serving chairman in the Premier League as he has been in that role at Tottenham since 2001.

He has been encouraged to back Antonio Conte in the transfer market. Arnesen has told The Athletic that Levy “trusts his manager and sporting director” to handle player incomings:

“You also have clubs where there are owners who are very hands-on and they want to do the negotiations, like Tottenham. Daniel does it himself and is very good at it.

“But he has no understanding about the football game and doesn’t interfere if you want a left-back or a right winger. He trusts his manager and the sporting director to do that work.”

Micah Richards believes Levy “would be crazy” not to give Conte what he wants:

“He’s the kind of character that fans bond with and, regardless of his spell at Chelsea, he is becoming loved at Spurs.

“I’m fascinated to see what is possible for Tottenham under Conte. If I was in charge of one of their rivals the only players I’d seriously consider buying from their squad would be Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

“Tottenham have thrust themselves into contention for a Champions League place — and that is Conte.

“It still amazes me Manchester United failed to pursue him. This guy is firmly in the top 10 of managers worldwide — you could argue that he is in the top five. Everything about his CV tells you he has come back to London to win.

“Perhaps it is a stretch to see Tottenham challenging for the Premier League anytime soon but Conte has won titles with Bari, Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan and he didn’t accept Daniel Levy’s offer to succeed Nuno Espirito Santo to waste time.

“Conte wants to be competitive, to cause problems for Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel. That is why it would be crazy if Levy didn’t give him the proper backing to get Tottenham motoring forward again. As was the case under Mauricio Pochettino.”