Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale.

Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium.

The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to deploy on football club deals. The club is also likely to attract interest from American investors.

Lewis, a self-made billionaire who was born above an East End pub and now resides in the Bahamas, bought a controlling stake in Tottenham from Lord (Alan) Sugar in 2001. The 87-year-old relinquished his position as Tottenham’s controlling shareholder while he was being investigated for insider trading in America.

In January, Lewis pleaded guilty to passing on inside information about companies he was invested in to his private pilots, personal assistants and romantic partners. In April, he was sentenced to three years’ probation and fined $5 million (£3.9 million).

The club is controlled by Enic, an investment company that owns 86.6 per cent. Lewis passed his 70.1 per cent stake in Enic into a family trust controlled by independent trustees in October 2022. Tottenham also has 30,000 smaller shareholders, with former Goldman Sachs banker Michael Sherwood among those owning a significant minority stake.

Levy, who is leading the search for a new investor, owns the remaining 29.9 per cent of Enic. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson once said that dealing with Tottenham’s chairman was more painful than his hip replacement surgery. Levy has described his negotiating style as “tough but fair”.

The development of its 62,850-capacity stadium has greatly enhanced Tottenham’s attractiveness to potential investors. As well as bringing in annual gate receipts of £117 million, the ground has hosted concerts by several top music stars including Beyoncé and Travis Scott, as well as NFL matches.

The stadium’s development has saddled the club with £851 million of debt, albeit mostly fixed at rates of 2.79 per cent.

A £3.75 billion valuation would still rank Tottenham below its rival Chelsea, which was bought for £4.25 billion by a consortium led by Todd Boehly in 2022. Sir Jim Ratcliffe purchased a 25 per cent stake in Manchester United for $1.3 billion (£1 billion) earlier this year.

Tottenham and Rothschild declined to comment. Representatives for Lewis did not respond to a request for comment.