Fulham owner Shahid Khan is considering selling the club and buying Tottenham in a deal that could also see his NFL team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, move into the new White Hart Lane.
Standard Sport understands Khan’s plan is at an extremely formative stage, with only informal discussions having taken place with advisers over the possibility of a dramatic deal that would change the football landscape in London.
No contact has been made between Khan and Spurs, while a new stadium has been part of chairman Daniel Levy’s grand plan for the north London club since he took over in 2001 and he has no desire to sell.
Spurs unveiled their blueprint on Wednesday for a 61,000-capacity stadium that will host two NFL matches per season over a 10-year period from the planned opening date in 2018.
Tottenham’s new link with the NFL will appeal to Khan, whose Jaguars team have a four-year residency at Wembley, which expires in 2016.
In November, Khan insisted that “we have no plans to move at this time” but also admitted that “going overseas has been a win-win... [extending the annual visits] is something we are going to look at in a couple of years... it is in the realm of possibility but nothing’s decided”.
It is believed that Khan has been encouraged by the upturn in financial results the Jaguars have enjoyed since coming to London.
They generated the least income of all 32 NFL teams when he took control in 2011 but are projected to rise around 10 places, thanks largely to the increased income from higher ticket prices and larger gates at the 90,000-capacity Wembley than at their EverBank Field venue in Florida, which holds 67,000.
It is believed that Khan would prefer a more permanent residence, assuming that the rest of the NFL’s owners do not object to further matches being played overseas.
Tottenham will be worth an estimated £1billion when their state-of-the-art stadium is built. Khan’s net worth, according to the Forbes list, is $4.6bn (£2.99bn) and he is understood to have paid approximately £150m for Fulham when he took over at Craven Cottage two years ago.
Speculation has persisted for a long time that Spurs owner Joe Lewis and Levy would look to sell up once they had built a new stadium, but Khan would need to first find a buyer for Fulham before making an offer.
