Levy doesn't negotiate every transfer

TRANSFER TALK

There seem to be plenty of people who think Daniel Levy conducts all our transfer negotiations, he doesn't. Rebecca Caplehorn is involved in most of our transfers and a negotiating team will conduct initial negotiations.

It is basic negotiating strategy to conduct discussions at a lower level and bring a deal to the chairman for approval or for further decisions on which route the club would like to take. Tottenham are said to have offered 2m Eur for Pau Lopez and reports suggest Espanyol want 5m Eur. Espanyol initially asked for 5m Eur plus Federico Fazio so the difference in valuation is larger than is being assumed.

Espanyol have bought a new number one so Lopez is now a number two. Espanyol's valuation is based on him being a young number one with potential. Our valuation is on him now being a number two. How high we are prepared to go for we'll have to wait and see, it depends how much Pochettino rates him.

A larger deal will see more involvement, but smaller deals will be handled by a negotiating team and Levy will just sign it off when an agreement has been reached. The negotiating team will know club strategy, what they can and can't offer and will know what valuations we truly place on a player. If Daniel Levy did all the transfer negotiations he'd never have time for anything else.

There are no hard and fast rules, some players have a status that requires higher involvement, sometimes friendship plays a part, sometimes two chairman will come to a basic understanding and leave others to sort out the details. Every deal is different, some really don't need his involvement and some do.

Sometimes we get great deals, like Hugo Lloris who we acquired for an initial fee of under £9m with add-ons on top. Other deals we miss out on. We have a strategy, we have a wages structure and deals have to fit in with our finances. Sevilla have won the Europa League three times on the trot and they don't spend fortunes building a squad. Within our strategy we are not doing too bad, the future looks rosy.

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