NBA superstar could pick Chelsea or Tottenham as Daniel Levy and Todd Boehly hold part-takeover talks

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When it comes to sports investment projects, it doesn’t get much more big-time than Chelsea and Tottenham – two clubs who are potentially in line for ownership shake-ups in the near term.

Both clubs feature in Forbes top 10 most valuable football clubs in the world, with their London locations and global reach major factors for their multi-billion dollar appraisals.

At Spurs, Daniel Levy has been courting fresh investment for some time, although the chairman and co-owner only formally announced his intentions in April.

The former Newcastle United supremo Amanda Staveley is exploring Tottenham with a view to a potential investment on behalf of a consortium of backers from the United States and Middle East.

Levy and ENIC are believed to be seeking fresh capital from a minority partner in order to fund infrastructure projects and, the current ownership says, investment in Ange Postecoglou’s playing squad.

Chelsea’s situation is slightly more complex, with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali at loggerheads in the boardroom and having reportedly held talks about buying each other out.

There is no clear path to a major change of their corporate structure, however.

As a minority investor, Boehly has no lever to force a full takeover, while any bid for the equity owned by Clearlake Capital would need to represent a healthy return on the £1.5bn they paid for their stake.

From Eghbali’s point of view, there is little reason to buy Boehly out as they already have operational control at Stamford Bridge as as the club’s majority owners.

And in any case, the owners may be reluctant to do anything to upset the momentum that Chelsea have built up on the pitch under Enzo Maresca.

When equity in either club eventually changes hands, it will guarantee the selling party a huge profit on their initial investment.

Why? Because the enterprise values of Premier League clubs have skyrocketed in recent years.

The reasons are multi-faceted.

The extraordinary growth of the league’s broadcast revenue is the single biggest factor, but growing interest in clubs’ IP and global appeal is arguably next in line.

In layman’s terms, investors know that clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham have phenomenal potential as vehicles to sell products and services to a mass market.

It is the kind of language that bedrock supporters justifiably detest.

But the era of the vanity owner who would buy a club purely to deliver on-field glory is all but over, and investors are now looking at ROI as the number-one metric for success.

As it happens, the next big commercial moment in English football is on the horizon – but will it unfold in N17 or SW6?

• READ MORE: Finance expert issues verdict on Amanda Staveley ditching Tottenham for Real Madrid after what he's heard

Nike’s Air Jordan brand to sponsor Chelsea or Tottenham

Both Chelsea and Spurs’ biggest individual deals are with Nike.

The headline figures suggest that the American sportswear giants pay £60m and £30m respectively for the rights to manufacture the London clubs’ kits.

In reality, the mechanics and intricacies of the two deals mean the discrepancy between those two figures will be more modest.

The fact that spin-off brand Air Jordan, the brainchild of NBA legend Michael Jordan, is considering both clubs for its next collaboration is further evidence that Nike value both Spurs and Chelsea equally.

As reported by football finance expert Łukasz Bączek, Champions League qualification could be key in determining which London club will be the next to get the Air Jordan treatment.

At present, Chelsea – who beat Aston Villa 3-0 on Sunday – are well ahead in those stakes.

They are five points clear of 7th-place Spurs and have identical records with 2nd-place Arsenal.

• READ MORE: Daniel Levy's masterplan laid bare amid £3bn green light from Premier League HQ

The Paris Saint-Germain revolution: Air Jordan deal could super-size Spurs or Chelsea’s enterprise values

If Nike, alongside Jordan and his advisors, do pick Spurs or Chelsea as their next brand-building project, it could be transformative in the commercial department.

That in turn could have a real, material impact on the enterprise values of either clubs and, as a result, the current part-takeover talks taking place in both boardrooms.

At Paris Saint-Germain, who have been partnered with Air Jordan since 2018, the club’s commercial chiefs have credited the partnership with turning them into a lifestyle brand.

In essence, that means that their appeal as a merchandiser has extended well beyond fans of the club, which ultimately is a relatively limited pool, and into the wider streetwear market.

The effect would likely be more modest at Spurs or Chelsea given that they are starting from a higher base than the 12-time Ligue 1 champions, but it would amplify their brands all the same.

It may even explain why Spurs have created a new ‘brand identity’, introducing a new logo-style crest that they will use on certain products. It would be more marketable for a streetwear brand.

Similarly, it has been mooted that Chelsea’s kits next season could feature their old, pre-2005 badge.