Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has said that he would rather the club develop players rather than spend on big money signings, in quotes Arsenal fans will recognise all too well.

When Arsenal moved from the Emirates, we were told year after year by management that Arsenal needed to focus on developing players rather than buying them, and then told by the media that Arsenal had the money to spend and were just choosing not to.

Ivan Gazidis spoke six years ago about the “difficult period” that the club was going through, and of the importance of focusing on a “strong sustainable model built around youth development.” He said that the club’s transfer strategy remains developing young players and turning them into star players.” (via Daily Mail).

But the media were having none of it. They blasted Arsène’s ‘stingy’ nature, and said that the new stadium was no excuse not to bring in the right players and compete.

Now, in a surprising turn of events, Tottenham’s chairman is saying almost exactly the same thing as Tottenham build a new stadium. He said, in quotes via the Evening Standard: “The academy is important because we can produce our own players. We don’t have to go and spend £20m, £30m, £40m on a player and obviously that homegrown player has an affinity with the club that a player we buy doesn’t.

“Unless we can find a player who would make a difference he would rather give one of our academy players a chance so that’s regardless of the financing of the stadium.”

Although he claims that it has nothing to do with financing the stadium, the timing seems extremely convenient. Just as the stadium moves into the main construction stage, during which time Tottenham have to play at Wembley, suddenly Tottenham become the least involved team in the market.

The question is whether Tottenham’s failures will be as widely highlighted as Arsenal’s were. Whether they’ll have the same pressure put on them by the papers and by TV pundits, to perform even when they can’t afford to invest. The answer is probably no, especially not when we look at the praise already being heaped on them for taking this approach.