In the course of the poker game about Tottenham Hotspur’s supposedly ideal striker Harry Kane, FC Bayern is currently forced to step into the ring with one of the most feared negotiating partners in world football: Daniel Levy. sport.de has taken a look at some of the deals that have established the Spurs boss’ reputation as a badass.
Sitting at the negotiating table with Levy was more painful than his hip operation, said Manchester United’s legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson in his book “Leading” in 2015, summarizing the experiences he had with Levy in connection with Dimitar Berbatov’s move from London “was allowed” to collect the Red Devils.
ManUnited had to shell out a whopping 38 million euros for the Bulgarian after tough poker in the summer 2008 transfer spurt. In any case, it was only carried out because Berbatov, according to his own statement, was mentally so exhausted from the tug of war over his person that he – to put it nicely – no longer showed full commitment.
The transfer is now widely regarded as one of Levy’s first and most famous strokes of genius, but it is far from the only move in which Levy has successfully maxed out Tottenham’s cards.
More than a million euros per league game of a Spurs flop
In the summer of 2017, Levy made a brilliant move that didn’t receive much international attention: Kevin Wimmer’s move from Spurs to Stoke City.
Wimmer had only moved from 1. FC Köln to White Hart Lane two years earlier for around six million euros, but the Austrian was unable to leave a lasting impression. When Stoke showed interest, the centre-back had just 15 Premier League appearances on his resume. Still, Levy Stoke raked out a whopping €19.4m – more than €1m for every appearance Wimmer made for Tottenham in the English league.
The investment should not even begin to pay off: After a sobering start, Stoke Wimmer loaned out to Hannover 96 and KSC, among others, before his contract ended.
Ajax pulverized their own transfer record
If Tottenham’s manageable investment in Wimmer did not fuel the great expectations, the purchase of Steven Bergwijn in January 2020 made bigger headlines. The attacker left PSV Eindhoven for 30 million euros, joined Tottenham and after a good start quickly became an expensive precious joker.
Eight goals in 83 appearances did not justify the transfer fee that was once paid, but Levy still managed to sell the Dutchman to Ajax Amsterdam in the summer of 2022 for more than 31 million euros. By far the largest sum that the Dutch have invested in the transfer market so far.
By the way: In February 2022, the then Ajax sports director Marc Overmars said on the club’s website that although they had been interested in signing Bergwijn for a long time, they had to be realistic about the transfer fee. At that time, claims of “only” 25 million euros were circulating.
A true transfer milestone
However, Levy managed what is probably the biggest coup in 2013, when he sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid shortly before the summer transfer window closed for the first 100 million euro deal in the world of football.
When Real stayed just under 100 million with what was supposed to be his last offer, Levy is said to have raised his demand to 144 million euros, garnished with the reference that they did not want to give up Bale under any circumstances. The result is known.
“Daniel Levy was just doing his job and bringing out the best for Tottenham,” Bale told BT Sport in retrospect.
However, Levy should not only take a tough course when leaving. When the 61-year-old once signed Luka Modric from Dinamo Zagreb for 21 million euros, according to Zagreb’s ex-president Zdravko Mamic, a memorable event happened:
“We already had an agreement to transfer Modric to London. Then I asked Levy for five Spurs shirts. He then said that he would give them to me, but then Tottenham would pay less for the transfer. Through this story, I realize how much he pays attention to every single euro in Tottenham’s treasury,” Mamic told “Four Four Two” that Levy was simply the “best negotiator in the world”.
Did FC Bayern make a serious mistake?
It is precisely that “best negotiator in the world” that is currently proving to be a (too) high hurdle for FC Bayern, who recently brought two equally notorious transfer whisperers back on board with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Honorary President Uli Hoeneß for planning the coming season, however, the German record champion is said to have already weakened his chance with a serious mistake.
Reports that coach Thomas Tuchel has already met and met Kane without informing Tottenham, Levy is said to have been very angry, according to “Sport Bild”. The magazine claims to have learned from Levy’s environment that he now wants to “let FC Bayern bleed”. According to UEFA, negotiations without the employer’s consent are only allowed once a player is entering his last six months of contract.
The ultimate outcome of the poker is open. However, past examples show that FC Bayern has to be prepared for very long negotiations.
Marc Affeldt