Tottenham close to securing naming rights for stadium
By Tom Gott
Tottenham Hotspur are close to a breakthrough in securing naming rights for their stadium, nearly three years after it first opened.
Christened the 'Tottenham Hotspur Stadium' upon opening, the plan was for that name to be a placeholder while a multi-million pound deal was struck to sell the naming rights, but no agreement has been reached just yet.
Finding a sponsor has taken an absolute eternity, but according to the Daily Mail, the wait for a new name might soon be over.
It's claimed that chairman Daniel Levy is in advanced negotiations with a sponsor and could well have a deal to announce before the new season gets underway in August.
On top of finally ending this saga, securing a sponsor for the name will do wonders for Spurs' finances. The £1.2bn building project has left Spurs in around £600m worth of debt, so selling the naming rights would help balance the books.
Spurs are understood to be planning work to expand their stadium complex. It was revealed back in June that the local council had approved plans to add an extreme sports building and community health centre, and there have even been suggestions that an art gallery is on the way.
They are the plans for the short term, but further down the line, there are also hopes of adding a hotel and residential quarters.
Beefing up the stadium would add to a summer which has already been hectic for Spurs. Their search for a new manager lasted far longer than it ever should have, but club officials eventually settled on Nuno Espirito Santo as the man to lead them forward.
Spurs can now focus on transfers as they look to fire themselves back up the Premier League standings, but with the Euros now over, speculation surrounding the future of striker Harry Kane will only continue to grow.
Kane has vowed to speak with Spurs after Euro 2020, which came to an end on Sunday as his England side fell to Italy in the final.