Spurs expecting £5m loss

Tottenham will have to raise up to £15million from shareholders after the club dived deep into the red last season.

The fundraising is likely to see chairman Daniel Levy tighten his grip on the club.

Sources say the £15m will be used to boost manager Glenn Hoddle's spending power. He has already splashed out £6.25m on Portuguese striker Helder Postiga and Spurs have also been linked with moves for West Ham pair Freddie Kanoute and Trevor Sinclair.

Disastrous forays into the transfer market in recent seasons, including £11m for Sergei Rebrov and £5m for Ben Thatcher, have put the club in trouble financially.

Spurs today warned they expects to report losses for the year to 30 June of at least £5m when they announce official results in the autumn. Twelve months ago Spurs, reckoned to be one of the better-run Stock Market-quoted football clubs, were reporting a profit of nearly £1m.

The fund-raising will, however, prompt new questions about the finances at White Hart Lane, coming as its does within a year of raising £75m from City lenders.

The funding is likely to be via a so-called "rights issue" in which existing shareholders have the right to buy new shares in proportion to the number of shares they already own.

City sources report there is likely to be very little appetite from institutional investors for the share offer because of the dive in football finances generally.