Tottenham Hotspur have been asked to cover major costs related to their controversial European Super League decision five years ago.

Tottenham and the other members of the ‘big six’ were part of the 12 clubs who signed up for the controversial European Super League back in 2021.

However, all six Premier League clubs were eventually forced to withdraw from the proposed competition following a spate of fan protests.

While there have been suggestions since then that the European Super League idea could be resuscitated again, that has not happened so far.

Now, five years on from the controversial initiative being shelved, the Lilywhites and the five other English clubs are dealing with another problem.

Real Madrid want Tottenham and other big six clubs to share Super League costs

According to The Athletic, Real Madrid want the six Premier League clubs who signed for the original ESL proposal to pay a share of the initial cost of the abandoned project.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation reportedly told the outlet that Madrid believe that Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd should be liable for the setup costs of the plan, despite pulling out.

It is revealed that the costs for the defunct operation could be as high as €80m (£67.3m) in total. So far, the costs have been shared by Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.

However, Tottenham and the other five Premier League clubs could soon be forced to pay up for signing up for the competition.

Spurs signed a shareholders’ agreement for ESL in 2021

Out of the 12 founding ESL members, the six English clubs as well as Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan all withdrew from the competition.

However, it is revealed that all 12 of these founding members signed up to a shareholders’ agreement for the European Super League Company, a holding company based in Spain.

Back in April 2021, after the nine clubs had withdrawn, Madrid president Florentino Perez said: “I’m not going to take my time to explain what a binding contract is here. But the fact is, the clubs can’t leave.”

The Athletic explain that whether or not the six Premier League clubs are obligated to pay a share of the ESL costs is set to be determined by the interpretation of the contract’s wording.