The key way Thomas Frank can benefit from Tottenham's £4.5bn takeover collapse

Takeover approaches at Tottenham are like London buses, only in N17 you wait years for one to come along and then three turn up almost at once.

On Monday, the last man standing - Brooklyn Earick and his 12-strong consortium from the USA claimed to include NFL and NBA investors - announced that he would not be proceeding despite a big media splash reporting a £3.3billion takeover bid to come and a further £1.2billion set aside as transfer funds for head coach Thomas Frank.

That statement to the London Stock Exchange came as little surprise to those within Spurs or the Lewis family, who own the club and have made it clear that they do not wish to sell.

Privately the feeling among those in the financial markets was that the interest was not there for such a huge takeover approach to be fully launched and there were doubts over whether the financial backing was firmly locked into place to take any massive plans to fruition. As soon as the media reports came out, it forced Earick and the US consortium's hand as the takeover panel and its rules took over, with the required timeframe to either formalise an approach or drop out. They dropped out.

Regardless of the strength of the approach, overriding for any interested party was the Lewis family being so strong on the message that the club was not for sale, with both CEO Vinai Venkatesham and Frank saying as much in public on their behalf as well as statements coming out of the club.

Tech entrepreneur Earick, who failed earlier this year in a bid to acquire Formula E team Maserati, was busy on social media during the process, including - after a source close to the Lewis family had labelled his approach as "unsolicited and unnecessary interest" - releasing photos and an emailed schedule of a tour of the club's facilities this summer under former chairman Daniel Levy's regime.

On Monday, Earick wrote to his 4,600 followers on his X account: "It’s been a privilege engaging with Tottenham Hotspur and the Lewis family's representatives over the past few months. I have great respect for the club, its leadership, and its supporters, and wish them nothing but success."

The club announced to the Stock Exchange: "The board of Tottenham Hotspur notes the recent announcements from the Firehawk and Mr Earick's consortiums that they do not intend to make an offer for the club. The board thanks them for the constructive approach taken in the discussions with the club's and the Lewis family's representatives and respecting the clear position of the Lewis family that the club is not for sale."

The coast is currently clear with all three interested parties now withdrawing their interest, including Amanda Staveley and PCP International Finance Limited as well as the Asia-based consortium of investors led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited.

With all three parties deciding there was not a deal to be done, it appears that the Lewis family's message has been received loud and clear that for now at least, Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale.

The new Spurs hierarchy were present once again this season at Sunday's NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Vivienne Lewis and her son-in-law Nick Beucher watched on from the directors' box alongside Venkatesham.

With the big reported figures attached to the Earick deal and the now hypothetical transfer funds that it was claimed would be available for Frank, the Lewis family will have to show their intent at the first chance from the January transfer window onwards with the Spurs supporters waiting to see if there really has been a change in more than just the names at the top.

"I need to try and answer your question without leading to a whole load of 'transfer war chest' stories tomorrow," Venkatesham said in a club interview last month. "I think it is very fair to say that we have firm backing from the Lewis family against our ambitions to be successful on the pitch, both on the men's side and women's side.

"They know that's going to require investment and we have their firm backing, but I would also say like all other 20 Premier League clubs, we also need to make sure that we're also cognizant and aware of the financial fair play rules, and that means we need to continue to grow our revenues.

"We need to continue to develop players both from the academy and young players that we buy. We need to make sure that we're selling players at the right time, and we also need to make sure that every time we're recruiting a player we're making smart decisions both from a sporting and a financial perspective.

"If you don't do that because of how the financial regulations work, you can find yourself in a position where you've got money to spend, but the regulations don't allow you to spend it. So I guess to summarise, absolutely there's financial backing against the ambition we have and like every other club in the Premier League, we need to do that in line with the financial fair play rules."

Spurs have spent more money in the transfer market than some might expect - many would argue on the wrong players - but the key investment area could well be the rigid wage structure that has maintained the club's long-term profitability but hindered them in attracting premium ready-made highly-paid stars to their side of north London.

For Frank to benefit from a more public era of ownership from the Lewis family, that is where the change must come. The Dane has started strongly with Spurs sitting third in the Premier League table, unbeaten in the Champions League so far and through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Tottenham have seen fast starts before though and not been able to maintain them because the squad was not strong enough to handle the fixture schedule. The new head coach will be hoping that he is the first person to benefit from what is being heralded as a new era at the club both on the pitch and off it.