Daniel Levy told Tottenham players Juande Ramos was sacked… and introduced Harry Redknapp just 30 seconds later

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is one of the most shrewd negotiators in football – that is a fact.

It is alleged that even Sir Alex Ferguson described dealing with Levy during Manchester United’s successful pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov in 2008 as ‘more painful than my hip replacement’.

Levy was recently blasted for cutting salaries of his non-playing staff – but he reversed the decision

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However, whatever he does clearly works as no one can deny the success Levy has brought to Spurs since he joined the club in 2001.

On a modest budget, he has built a team that is established amongst the Premier League elite and also played a huge role in the building of a new stadium which many regard as the best in the world.

And talkSPORT co-host Darren Bent, who played for Spurs from 2007-2009, has shed some light on just how cut-throat Levy is by recalling Juande Ramos’ White Hart Lane dismissal in 2008.

Juande Ramos struggled towards the end of his Tottenham reign and was sacked in 2008

Having steered the club to a league cup victory over Chelsea in 2008, Levy dismissed the Spaniard later that year in truly brutal fashion, as revealed by Bent.

He told the Breakfast show: “When I was at Spurs we had Juande Ramos as the manager.

“He got sacked in the evening of a game, and the chairman came in and said: ‘By the way, we’ve sacked Juande Ramos.’

“The next thing we knew Harry Redknapp strolled in and said: ‘Hi Guys, you alright?’

“Out of nowhere we were sitting in this room and he just strolled in – it was the most bizarre thing.”

“It was literally 30 seconds after – we didn’t even see Ramos leave, but we saw Harry come in!”

Redknapp took charge of Spurs in 2008 and spent four years at the club

Bent also spoke about the Premier League and how, if and when the campaign could be resumed as coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the sporting world.

The former striker said it will be ‘difficult’ for the clubs to agree as every club will have different objectives.

“The objectives for the teams at the bottom of the table are completely different from the teams at the top,” he added.

“Aston Villa are in relegation battle. They’re in the bottom three right now. If they lose their best players to the virus and they cannot play at home as their stadium is a neutral venue – the odds are completely stacked up against them.

“I cannot see all the owners and chief executives agreeing to the same things. It’s not going to happen.”

You can listen to a clip of Darren Bent above…

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