Daniel Levy

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Interesting article in express

Levy, the thoughts negotiator in football

The chances are the irony would be lost on many of the world’s leading clubs. Football’s toughest negotiator, the man who tries to hold everyone else to ransom, made some of his money selling at a discount.

That’s how the family firm, Mr Byrite, sprang to prominence two decades ago. Then Levy sold clothes on the cheap – now he flogs on footballers for huge profits, where, when and how he chooses.

The Tottenham chairman kept Real Madrid and Gareth Bale waiting before finally ratifying his world-record move to Spain last Sunday. Levy brought in £85million for Bale. Luka Modric, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick commanded almost as much between them when they left White Hart Lane.

Most of those moves came right at the end of a transfer window. Where Levy is concerned, there is no such thing as a quick and simple deal.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas sold goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to Spurs last summer and then said: “The negotiation with the Tottenham directors has been the hardest I have ever had to undergo in 25 years.

“We had people speaking all night with Daniel Levy.

“He talks a lot and goes back on what we’ve agreed in writing.”

Real might agree. Not content with banking £85m for Bale, Levy reportedly tried to stop them selling Mesut Ozil to Spurs’ local rivals Woolwich.

But driving a hard bargain has reaped a reward. Tottenham have broken their transfer record three times this summer and spent more than £100m.

Because they have sold at high prices, they are also in the black – a recurring theme of Levy’s life.

A land economy graduate of Cambridge University, he was involved in the family business – Mr Byrite was eventually rebranded Blue Inc and sold in 2006 – and in property development.

Along with former Tottenham vice-chairman Paul Kemsley, he set up Rock Joint Ventures, which had a stake in house-builders Countryside Properties. His background might explain his football dealings.

“Levy made a lot of his money in the property boom and I think that he views players like that – buy them and sell them on after two or three years,” said Jim Duggan, author of ‘The Glory of Spurs’.

He talks a lot and goes back on what we agreed in writing

Jean-Michel Aulas (Lyon President)

Levy’s own time at Tottenham has lasted 12 years. In 1995, he became managing director of ENIC group, owned by reclusive, Bahamas-based billionaire Joe Lewis.

Lewis’ company, Tavistock, controls a wide range of investments in restaurants, property, finance, agriculture and sport.

ENIC had shares in a variety of football clubs, including Rangers, Vicenza and AEK Athens, before focusing on Tottenham.

Levy is believed to have been a key player when ENIC bought a stake in Spurs, the club he had supported since boyhood, in 2001.

And since 2004, when ENIC took Tottenham off the stock exchange and made it a private company, Spurs have been run Levy’s way.

Other clubs envy his ability to generate the highest possible price. Spurs fans have argued that his best buys have been the work of directors of football, like Frank Arnesen and Franco Baldini, and have complained that the club has often ended a transfer window short of a striker or an explanation.

Duggan added: “He never speaks in public. He would be more credible if he came out and did more interviews.”

But in complete contrast to the game’s publicity-hungry chairmen like Dave Whelan, Peter Ridsdale and Mohamed Al Fayed, Levy’s life is a closed book.

He married his former PA, Tracy, and they have four children. Apart from that, little is known. His aversion to publicity has increased his aura.

“The cult around Levy being a transfer genius needs to be demystified,” said Duggan. Instead it grows every time he dictates the terms of another major transfer.

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...ress-sport-news+(Daily+Express+::+Sport+Feed)
 
There was a piece about him a few weeks backs in the Sunday Times (paywalled) which said he met Joe Lewis at Cambridge when they were both undergraduates and studying economics. It inferred that was where they laid the seeds for ENIC but didn't give any definitive dates / proof.

As ever, a lot of mystery seems to surround ENIC and Levy / Lewis, but I would much rather they stay quiet and out of the limelight than carried on like some of the clowns who can't keep themselves out of the media.
 
There was a piece about him a few weeks backs in the Sunday Times (paywalled) which said he met Joe Lewis at Cambridge when they were both undergraduates and studying economics. It inferred that was where they laid the seeds for ENIC but didn't give any definitive dates / proof.

As ever, a lot of mystery seems to surround ENIC and Levy / Lewis, but I would much rather they stay quiet and out of the limelight than carried on like some of the clowns who can't keep themselves out of the media.

Joe Lewis is born in 1937 and Levy in 1962, and according to wiki Joe is a self made billionaire
 
There was a piece about him a few weeks backs in the Sunday Times (paywalled) which said he met Joe Lewis at Cambridge when they were both undergraduates and studying economics. It inferred that was where they laid the seeds for ENIC but didn't give any definitive dates / proof.

As ever, a lot of mystery seems to surround ENIC and Levy / Lewis, but I would much rather they stay quiet and out of the limelight than carried on like some of the clowns who can't keep themselves out of the media.
I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. Levy's key responsibility is Spurs' welfare and if his remaining a closed book helps in keeping him a relatively unknown quantity and when it comes to negotiations, the media and their own sensationalist interests can fuck right off.
 
Joe Lewis is born in 1937 and Levy in 1962, and according to wiki Joe is a self made billionaire

Yeah, Joe was a mature student... what's wrong with that?? Seems perfectly logical!

Also... Mr Byrite??? I never knew THAT was the Levy family business!!!!

A LOT of things have just become that much clearer!
 
I prefer that he is a bit enigmatic, better that than a Ken Bates. No he's not perfect and some of his his dealings with engaging/sacking managers leaves a lot to be desired. But I still think that he always try to do the best for the Club and most of the time, he gets it right.
 
:ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick:

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:ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick::ledleylick:

Has to be a smiley!
 
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