An MP has warned we are putting England’s football clubs at a disadvantage after Tottenham Hotspur’s manager blamed their failure to make a summer signing on the pound’s Brexit-driven slump.
Mauricio Pochettino said that Brexit, along with the cost of Tottenham’s new stadium, were central to the club failing to sign any new players in the transfer window.
With the pound now at a nine-month low against the euro, players at clubs abroad have become more expensive to those in the Premier League. Spurs are famously reluctant to pay over the odds for players.
Mr Pochettino said: ‘What the club is doing is showing that it is so brave because building a new training ground, finishing the [player] lodge this summer is a massive investment.
“Building a stadium that costs nearly £1bn – that’s is the truth, don’t believe when they say £400m.
“Then with Brexit it’s worse because the cost is 30% more. That is a drama, I feel sorry for the English people.”
Labour MP and Spurs fan David Lammy, a champion of the anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain, said that Premier League clubs were “being forced to pay a colossal Brexit tax in this transfer window thanks to the pound’s slump”.
He said: “Could this be the reason we’ve seen a quiet summer window by normal standards? Pochettino thinks so.
“No one voted to make one of Britain finest exports – the Premier League – less competitive.
“At a time when Ronaldo’s gone to Italy and top stars continue to flock to the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona, we shouldn’t be handing our clubs at home a disadvantage.”
Most popular
Alastair Campbell’s Diary: Disappointing Greta Thunberg and a night out with the Kinnocks
Mandrake: Facing the fury of Nadine Dorries
