Tottenham Hotspur believe they can complete the club’s new stadium for under £1billion, despite the rising cost of delays and gloomy predictions of construction experts.

Sources within the construction industry claim Spurs face a bill in the region of £1.2bn to complete their new stadium because of delays and the fact chairman Daniel Levy did not negotiate a fixed-price deal with contractor Mace.

Had Levy managed to sign a fixed-price contract for the delivery of Tottenham’s stadium, which had been valued at £850 million, then it would have been Mace and not the club who would have paid for any delays and the additional associated costs.

That was the case when Multiplex found themselves liable for the increased costs of building Wembley after signing a £326.5m fixed-price deal, although those contracts are no longer straightforward to secure.

Spurs are yet to put a completion date on the new stadium, but it is unlikely to be ready until the New Year and there have even been claims the team might not move into it until next season.

Multiplex had told Tottenham and Levy that it would be impossible to fully complete the new stadium before December 2018, when the contract was still out to tender.

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Levy is now in the tough position of trying to oversee the completion of the new stadium while trying to stop costs spiralling out of control.

One construction expert has told Telegraph Sport that Tottenham face a final bill of around £1.2bn, putting the project more than £300m over budget, but the club dispute this.

Spurs claim the construction cost has not dramatically increased as a result of the delays because the nature of the work has not changed and there has not been a need to pay workers overtime in other areas with the completion date now pushed back.

Levy’s hands-on approach to the management of the stadium project has also caused conjecture with one onsite source telling The Telegraph ‘he even wants to design the toilets’.

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But there remains a widespread acceptance that, once it opens, the new Tottenham stadium will be one of the best of its kind in the world and something Levy deserves credit for.

The presence of Tottenham owner Joe Lewis, who spends most of his time in the Bahamas, in London for the past three weeks has sparked speculation that he has demanded answers over the stadium delays and could be open to a sale of the club.

Sources close to Lewis, though, insist he has been in London for 'other' business and Tottenham are not aware of any interest from prospective buyers.

Telegraph Sport understands outside intermediaries have been talking with Middle Eastern businessmen about the possibility of making an offer in the region of £2bn to buy Spurs, but the club are not currently considering any proposals.

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Tottenham remain in talks with companies regarding the naming rights of the new stadium, which have been estimated at upwards of £200m even though the club have never publically put a figure on them.

Talks over the naming of the new stadium are understood to have taken place with HSBC, whose chairman Mark Tucker previously worked as chief executive for AIA – Tottenham’s shirt sponsor.

But it would put HSBC in an awkward position to align themselves with one club, while still trying to work with some of Tottenham’s Premier League rivals.