‘The best in football’ – Gary Neville makes bold claim about Tottenham ‘operator’

Gary Neville says Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is the best “operator” in football ahead of the 2019/20 season.

Levy has sometimes been criticised for opting against spending money in the transfer market, including when Spurs failed to bring in a single new player in two windows last season.

But the club chairman has delivered the long-anticipated new stadium in recent months as well as parting ways with large fees to sign Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso – the Londoners also signed Ryan Sessegnon on deadline day.

And Neville, who was speaking on Sky Sports’ Premier League season preview debate, believes Tottenham have got the perfect person running the club.

“I believe they have got the best operator in football in Levy,” Neville said. “You might not agree. [He’s the best] in the Premier League. Absolutely the best for me.

“He gets some things wrong, of course he does. But he doesn’t get messed around, he stands his ground, stands up to managers.”

Asked if he thinks Mauricio Pochettino sees Levy as the best chairman in the Premier League, Neville added: “Probably not at times. But if you’d have said to me ten years ago, Tottenham, they’ve got Harry Kane, Eriksen, all these great players, you have got some great players – they’d be gone.

“The first step for Tottenham is retaining the great players that they have. You’ve always lost your best player, your best two players.

“So for me, Tottenham actually in the last three years, keeping the manager and keeping their three or four best players, and he has strategically lost, say, Kyle Walker, knowing that Trippier was coming through and things like that. So it’s been clever.

“And I think from Tottenham’s point of view, getting to a Champions League final, retaining the manager again for another season – it’s massive, because you’ve got a great manager – and retaining the likes of Kane and Dele Alli and players like that, which can be the foundation. To me, that’s more important to Tottenham than signing two or three players.

“You’ve got to sign players because you’ve got to evolve. But they’ve always lost players in the past and gone back when they’ve been in this position.”

Pochettino has been vocal about the need to strengthen the squad, so the Argentinian will be happy with the club’s transfer business this summer – although the failed attempt to sign Paulo Dybala on deadline day will come as a bit of a disappointment.

Tottenham’s Premier League campaign gets underway against Aston Villa on Saturday.

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