Tottenham set to formally reject new £30m Chelsea bid for Luka Modric
Blues expected to make improved bid on Friday but Spurs will insist the Croatian playmaker is not for sale at any price and are confident of signing Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid
By Greg Stobart
Chelsea are expected to lodge an improved £30 million bid for Luka Modric on Friday but it will immediately be rejected by Tottenham.
The Blues have already had offers of £22m and £27m for the playmaker rejected but are planning to test Tottenham's resolve with a third bid having been encouraged by recent quotes from Spurs boss Harry Redknapp and assistant manager Kevin Bond.
New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is eager to continue the club's pursuit of Modric in what the Stamford Bridge club always expected to be a long process that would go well into August.
Spurs sources insist that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy's resolve to keep Modric is as strong as ever and he will take a dim view of another bid from Chelsea having twice told them the 25-year-old is not for sale.
Modric, who signed a six-year contract last summer, angrily attacked Levy last month in interviews with various newspapers in which he claimed the Spurs chief was “arrogant” and broke a “gentleman's agreement” to allow him to leave this summer for a bigger club.
That was followed by suggestions the former Dinamo Zagreb man would hand in a formal transfer request in order to push through a move to Chelsea, who are believed to be ready to offer a contract worth around £130,000-a-week, dwarfing his current £45,000 weekly wage.
But Tottenham insist that no written transfer request was ever received and Redknapp has hailed Modric as a “fantastic pro” during the club's pre-season preparations. He is expected to feature on Saturday in Tottenham's final warm-up game against Athletic Bilbao at White Hart Lane.
“Absolutely nothing has changed and Modric will not be sold. The value of any further bids is completely irrelevant to the chairman,” a Tottenham source told Goal.com. “Modric is working hard in training and he has now got his head around the fact that he is staying.”
Bond's admission, later withdrawn, that “everyone has a price” and Spurs' interest in Valencia star Juan Mata has led Chelsea to believe that their London rivals' strong stance regarding Modric has softened in recent weeks.
Tottenham, however, are adamant that the situation will not mirror the saga that eventually saw Dimitar Berbatov join Manchester United for £30.75m on the last day of the 2008 summer transfer window.
Meanwhile, Spurs are hoping to make at least two signings before they start their Premier League campaign against Everton a week on Saturday.
Redknapp has made a new striker his priority but the club are still some way from reaching an agreement on a season-long loan for Manchester City star Emmanuel Adebayor.
Another target, Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Llorente, will be in London to face Spurs this weekend and executives will use the opportunity to explore the possibility of a move for the Spain international.
Tottenham are also in the market for a new central midfielder and are confident of signing Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid. The former Arsenal and Chelsea star is keen to swap the Bernabeu for White Hart Lane but there are concerns over his high wage demands and his medical history after he missed the 2010 World Cup due to a genetic blood disorder.
Blues expected to make improved bid on Friday but Spurs will insist the Croatian playmaker is not for sale at any price and are confident of signing Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid
By Greg Stobart
Chelsea are expected to lodge an improved £30 million bid for Luka Modric on Friday but it will immediately be rejected by Tottenham.
The Blues have already had offers of £22m and £27m for the playmaker rejected but are planning to test Tottenham's resolve with a third bid having been encouraged by recent quotes from Spurs boss Harry Redknapp and assistant manager Kevin Bond.
New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is eager to continue the club's pursuit of Modric in what the Stamford Bridge club always expected to be a long process that would go well into August.
Spurs sources insist that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy's resolve to keep Modric is as strong as ever and he will take a dim view of another bid from Chelsea having twice told them the 25-year-old is not for sale.
Modric, who signed a six-year contract last summer, angrily attacked Levy last month in interviews with various newspapers in which he claimed the Spurs chief was “arrogant” and broke a “gentleman's agreement” to allow him to leave this summer for a bigger club.
That was followed by suggestions the former Dinamo Zagreb man would hand in a formal transfer request in order to push through a move to Chelsea, who are believed to be ready to offer a contract worth around £130,000-a-week, dwarfing his current £45,000 weekly wage.
But Tottenham insist that no written transfer request was ever received and Redknapp has hailed Modric as a “fantastic pro” during the club's pre-season preparations. He is expected to feature on Saturday in Tottenham's final warm-up game against Athletic Bilbao at White Hart Lane.
“Absolutely nothing has changed and Modric will not be sold. The value of any further bids is completely irrelevant to the chairman,” a Tottenham source told Goal.com. “Modric is working hard in training and he has now got his head around the fact that he is staying.”
Bond's admission, later withdrawn, that “everyone has a price” and Spurs' interest in Valencia star Juan Mata has led Chelsea to believe that their London rivals' strong stance regarding Modric has softened in recent weeks.
Tottenham, however, are adamant that the situation will not mirror the saga that eventually saw Dimitar Berbatov join Manchester United for £30.75m on the last day of the 2008 summer transfer window.
Meanwhile, Spurs are hoping to make at least two signings before they start their Premier League campaign against Everton a week on Saturday.
Redknapp has made a new striker his priority but the club are still some way from reaching an agreement on a season-long loan for Manchester City star Emmanuel Adebayor.
Another target, Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Llorente, will be in London to face Spurs this weekend and executives will use the opportunity to explore the possibility of a move for the Spain international.
Tottenham are also in the market for a new central midfielder and are confident of signing Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid. The former Arsenal and Chelsea star is keen to swap the Bernabeu for White Hart Lane but there are concerns over his high wage demands and his medical history after he missed the 2010 World Cup due to a genetic blood disorder.
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