Tottenham sue Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS for more than £11m just a month after beating Man Utd in Europa League final

Spurs filed a lawsuit against Ineos Automotive Limited earlier this month in the High Court and now the details of the dispute have been revealed by The Telegraph. Spurs accuse Ratcliffe's firm of breaching the five-year deal it signed in 2022, which was worth a minimum of £17.5m, to promote the Ineos Grenadier as the club's official 4x4 vehicle partner.

Spurs are claiming that Ineos failed to pay them the £5m-plus instalment that was due last December, having also not stumped up almost £500,000 the previous August. The north London club are also claiming at least £5,275,974 in damages after the deal was cut short with more than two years to go. The legal battle is the latest episode in a simmering rivalry between Tottenham and United. The teams met four times last season and Tottenham were triumphant on each occasion, most significantly in the Europa League final in Bilbao.

INEOS have withdrawn from several sponsorship agreements recently in what they claim are the consequences of Europe's green initiatives. The firm stopped sponsoring Sir Ben Ainslie's sailing team earlier this year and also pulled out of a deal with the All Blacks rugby team. Ratcliffe has also overseen massive cutbacks at United, including making 450 staff members redundant.

Despite the cutbacks at United and by Ineos, Ratcliffe has approved the Red Devils committing to spend in the region of £130m on Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. Cunha has already arrived after United paid his £62.5m release clause while the 20-times English champions are close to striking a deal with Brentford for Mbeumo for an initial £60m plus £5m in add-ons. Any other signings are only likely to happen if United can generate extra revenue through player sales, although their unwanted players such as Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford are proving difficult to shift.