Daniel Levy: Spurs chairman says Premier League transfer spending unsustainable

Levy says Spurs want to give academy players such as England Under-17 international Tashan Oakley-Boothe their chance

Chairman Daniel Levy has defended Tottenham's lack of transfer activity this summer and claimed the spending by other Premier League clubs is unsustainable.

More than £850m has been spent by top-flight sides in the transfer window, which ends on 31 August.

But Tottenham, who sold Kyle Walker to Manchester City for £45m this month, have not made any signings.

"We have a duty to manage the club appropriately," said Levy.

"Some of the activity that is going on at the moment is just impossible for it to be sustainable.

"Somebody spending £200m more than they're earning, eventually it catches up with you. And you can't keep doing it."

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Accountancy firm Deloitte said Premier League sides are on course to surpass the record £1.165bn they spent last summer.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said last week: "I'm used to clubs paying big for big players. Now everybody pays big money for good players."

Walker's departure aside, Spurs have retained the same squad that finished second to Chelsea in the league last season.

The club are in the process of building a new 61,000-seat stadium, which is expected to cost £750m and is scheduled to open next year.

Speaking at a Nasdaq Q&A in New York, Levy said: "Obviously when you're building a stadium of this magnitude and it all has to be privately financed - there's no state help whatsoever - it is a challenge.

"We have to find the right balance but I can honestly say it is not impacting us on transfer activity because we are not yet in a place where we have found a player that we want to buy who we cannot afford to buy."

Mauricio Pochettino's side, who are in the United States on their pre-season tour, beat France's Paris St-Germain 4-2 at the weekend, with 17-year-old midfielder Tashan Oakley-Boothe playing 45 minutes.

On Tuesday, a side beaten 3-2 by Roma featured three more academy products in the starting line-up - Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyle Walker-Peters and Josh Onomah.

Levy said: "Our position on transfers is that we have a coach who very much believes in the academy, so unless we can find a player that makes a difference we would rather give one of our young academy players a chance.

"The academy is important because if we produce our own players we don't have to spend £20m or £30m on a player.

"An academy player has that affinity with the club and that's what the fans want to see."