TOT told exactly what relegation would cost and given 'farcical' verdict

Tottenham sit dangerously close to the Premier League relegation zone with a daunting North London derby against Arsenal next on their fixture list

Tottenham find themselves perilously positioned near the drop zone ahead of their upcoming fixture against Arsenal. A football finance expert has outlined the potential consequences should the unthinkable occur and they suffer relegation.

Following a 17th-place finish in the Premier League last term, Spurs have endured further domestic misery this season. Under Thomas Frank, who has since been dismissed, they slipped towards the bottom of the table and are still without a top-flight victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2026.

Igor Tudor has now assumed control as they gear up for a North London derby on home turf. However, the threat of relegation, whilst seemingly impossible, continues to loom.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has shared his assessment of what might transpire should their dismal form persist and a Championship campaign materialise. He also highlights that a bizarre scenario could emerge concerning European competition.

Maguire told football.london: "We could be in a farcical situation where they win the Champions League this year and they qualify for next year's competition and are in the second tier of English football."

He added: "But if we ignore that, the good news for Spurs is that it's now an entertainment complex with a football club as a sideline. So the other side of the business, the events, those would be protected. Those would just go on as before if they went down.

"I think the amount of ticket income would be impacted and there would be some big impacts in terms of a loss of revenue. They made around about £600million of revenue last season.

"So the chances of being able to repeat that, I think, would be fairly unlikely, if at all possible. There are other things that could sort of fly under the radar. Spurs do have an awful lot of debt. One season in the Championship, clearly not ideal. Based on my figures, they owe over £300m in unpaid transfer fees to other clubs. So that would need to come out of somebody's pocket.

"I think there would be constraints. They'd get parachute payments. But, again, looking at my numbers here, last season, they made around about £190m in TV money. In the Championship, even with parachute payments, that £190m drops to around about £45m. So there could be some big hits for the club. Less money coming in.

"You've still got the issues that they've made legacy transfers, which haven't worked. But not only have they bought the players, they've still got to go and pay for those instalments on players. So it won't be great."

Maguire believes there is one silver lining to Spurs' finances should the unthinkable happen and they drop into the second tier. He added: "What Spurs do have in their favour is their wage bill. They pay, on average, around £100,000 a week.

"By the standards of the remainder of the Big Six, that is far, far lower. That would act in their favour. That is also highly incentivised to get into better positions than they are at present and so on. So they've got that sort of historic benefit. But even then, what the owners would have to do, the owners would have to go and provide some funding."