Rio Ferdinand has slammed Spurs owner Daniel Levy (Photo: BT Sport/Getty)

Rio Ferdinand has slammed Tottenham’s chairman and owner Daniel Levy, claiming that he has turned the club into a ‘toxic’ place.

Tottenham host Manchester United on Thursday night in what is a pivotal game for both sides in the race for the Premier League top four.

The Red Devils are fourth in the table, six points ahead of Spurs having played two games less.

The home side go into the game in crisis having sacked interim manager Cristian Stellini following the humiliating 6-1 defeat at Newcastle last Sunday, with Ryan Mason back in temporary charge.

The hunt for Antonio Conte’s permanent replacement seems no closer to an end, though the highly-rated Julian Nagelsmann is reportedly edging closer to joining.

Even so, he would be the fifth permanent manager Spurs have had in less than four years, with many unhappy with the direction Levy has led Spurs in since sacking the popular Mauricio Pochettino in 2019.

The appointments of serial winners like Jose Mourinho and Conte have not ended their trophy drought and in fact have made the club even less likely to win silverware.

Ryan Mason is in charge of Spurs for the match vs Man Utd (Photo: Getty)

There have also been questions over Levy’s lack of spending and when big signings have been made, more often than not they have been flops.

Supporters are furious with the leadership of Levy and Ferdinand understands their frustration, telling BT Sport: ‘You can sense the toxicity when you walk into the place.

‘Results don’t go their way, and it’s not just one or two results it’s over a course of time, and they’re not seeing improvements.

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‘The infrastructure of the club, forget resources in terms of the stadium and the training ground, inside the club there isn’t a real clarity as to which direction they’re going.

‘The strategy in terms of the recruitment, some of the signings are so fragmented. You’re going, “Do they really fit? Does he fit?”, and now the frustration is creeping into the stands.

‘We all have friends and fans saying, “What the hell is happening to our club?” That’s all you get.’

MORE : Tottenham hit stumbling block in pursuit of Julian Nagelsmann over Bayern Munich compensation

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‘The frustration is creeping into the stands.’