Tottenham Hotspur's chairman Daniel Levy says Luka Modric is not for sale. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto
Daniel Levy has warned Chelsea that Luka Modric is not for sale "at any price" to any club, despite the midfielder indicating that he wants to move to Stamford Bridge. Modric's comments came two days after Tottenham turned down Chelsea's £22m offer, but the Spurs chairman is adamant the Croatian is staying.
In a statement which appears to leave little room for manoeuvre, Levy also took aim at Chelsea for going public with their interest in the midfielder, who is widely regarded as Tottenham's best player and has attracted interest from Manchester City and Manchester United.
"I wish to make it absolutely clear, as I have said previously, that none of our key players will be sold this summer," Levy said. "We are building a team for the future to consistently play at the highest level and retaining quality players is crucial to that.
"In respect of Luka Modric, we are not prepared to sell, at any price, to Chelsea or any other club. We made our stance on this issue abundantly clear in writing to Chelsea. They chose to ignore it and then subsequently made the offer public."
However, Chelsea denied they had leaked details of their bid for Modric on Saturday, branding Levy's claims as "nonsense".
Harry Redknapp backed his chairman's stance, but also warned Levy that Tottenham risk ridicule if Modric is sold now.
"The chairman has made a statement," the Tottenham manager told TalkSport. "He can't backtrack on that. He means that - I know he means that. Luka's not going.
"Daniel has made that statement - he can't come out and suddenly sell him. Everyone will go, 'What's the use of listening to what he says?' It's a happy thing to have a player like Luka Modric. We aren't selling him, that's what the chairman says and that's good enough for me. It's not easy to keep a player who's not happy, but the chairman has said we're not going to sell him so we've got to stand by that now. He can't be saying that and then we sell him.
"If we sell Modric where are we going as a football club? We'll have to accept that we're a middle-of-the-table team. That's not what the chairman wants. It's not what I want. It's not, most importantly, what the fans want.
"You've got to keep your best players. I don't see Liverpool wanting to sell Steven Gerrard or Chelsea wanting to sell Frank Lampard, John Terry or any of their top players. Arsenal don't want to sell [Samir] Nasri so you've got to keep your best players if you want to be successful.
"He's such a great player for us we just don't want to lose him. He's a great guy, top-class boy and obviously his head's been turned a little bit by the fact that he's wanted by all these clubs and he could probably go and get a fantastic contract.
"It's difficult but we certainly don't want to lose him. Daniel's made the statement and I'm sure he's determined to stand by what he's said."
Even so within White Hart Lane, there may be an acceptance that they will find it difficult to keep hold of Modric, who joined Tottenham from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008, now he has expressed a desire to leave. Furthermore, although Spurs reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, they fell short in their attempt to qualify for next season's competition, finishing only fifth in the Premier League. Modric's ambition to experience the Champions League again is behind his wish for a transfer.
"It's a short period [your career] and you want to fulfil your personal ambitions as a football player, win trophies, play Champions League football every year," he said. "I would like to play in it this year – it's going to be difficult to play without the Champions League."
Tottenham have been in this position before. In 2006, they were unable to prevent Michael Carrick joining United for £18.6m. Two years later United came calling again, this time for Dimitar Berbatov, and after Levy initially rebuffed them, United eventually stumped up £30m for the striker.
Modric and Berbatov are viewed differently, however. Whereas Berbatov, who left for £30m, was close to being able to buy out his contract under the Webster ruling, which would have meant Tottenham losing him for next to nothing, Modric, 25, still has five years left on his contract. While Berbatov ultimately became a hindrance at the club, The player has promised he will not hand in a transfer request as he wishes to depart on good terms.
The dilemma for Tottenham is that if they do allow Modric to leave, it could spark an exodus of other key players, such as Gareth Bale, who has long been linked with Internazionale and Real Madrid. For the time being though, Levy is refusing to budge.
"For the avoidance of any doubt, let me reiterate that we shall not enter into any negotiations whatsoever, with any club, regarding Luka," he said. "We now consider this matter closed."
In a statement which appears to leave little room for manoeuvre, Levy also took aim at Chelsea for going public with their interest in the midfielder, who is widely regarded as Tottenham's best player and has attracted interest from Manchester City and Manchester United.
"I wish to make it absolutely clear, as I have said previously, that none of our key players will be sold this summer," Levy said. "We are building a team for the future to consistently play at the highest level and retaining quality players is crucial to that.
"In respect of Luka Modric, we are not prepared to sell, at any price, to Chelsea or any other club. We made our stance on this issue abundantly clear in writing to Chelsea. They chose to ignore it and then subsequently made the offer public."
However, Chelsea denied they had leaked details of their bid for Modric on Saturday, branding Levy's claims as "nonsense".
Harry Redknapp backed his chairman's stance, but also warned Levy that Tottenham risk ridicule if Modric is sold now.
"The chairman has made a statement," the Tottenham manager told TalkSport. "He can't backtrack on that. He means that - I know he means that. Luka's not going.
"Daniel has made that statement - he can't come out and suddenly sell him. Everyone will go, 'What's the use of listening to what he says?' It's a happy thing to have a player like Luka Modric. We aren't selling him, that's what the chairman says and that's good enough for me. It's not easy to keep a player who's not happy, but the chairman has said we're not going to sell him so we've got to stand by that now. He can't be saying that and then we sell him.
"If we sell Modric where are we going as a football club? We'll have to accept that we're a middle-of-the-table team. That's not what the chairman wants. It's not what I want. It's not, most importantly, what the fans want.
"You've got to keep your best players. I don't see Liverpool wanting to sell Steven Gerrard or Chelsea wanting to sell Frank Lampard, John Terry or any of their top players. Arsenal don't want to sell [Samir] Nasri so you've got to keep your best players if you want to be successful.
"He's such a great player for us we just don't want to lose him. He's a great guy, top-class boy and obviously his head's been turned a little bit by the fact that he's wanted by all these clubs and he could probably go and get a fantastic contract.
"It's difficult but we certainly don't want to lose him. Daniel's made the statement and I'm sure he's determined to stand by what he's said."
Even so within White Hart Lane, there may be an acceptance that they will find it difficult to keep hold of Modric, who joined Tottenham from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008, now he has expressed a desire to leave. Furthermore, although Spurs reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, they fell short in their attempt to qualify for next season's competition, finishing only fifth in the Premier League. Modric's ambition to experience the Champions League again is behind his wish for a transfer.
"It's a short period [your career] and you want to fulfil your personal ambitions as a football player, win trophies, play Champions League football every year," he said. "I would like to play in it this year – it's going to be difficult to play without the Champions League."
Tottenham have been in this position before. In 2006, they were unable to prevent Michael Carrick joining United for £18.6m. Two years later United came calling again, this time for Dimitar Berbatov, and after Levy initially rebuffed them, United eventually stumped up £30m for the striker.
Modric and Berbatov are viewed differently, however. Whereas Berbatov, who left for £30m, was close to being able to buy out his contract under the Webster ruling, which would have meant Tottenham losing him for next to nothing, Modric, 25, still has five years left on his contract. While Berbatov ultimately became a hindrance at the club, The player has promised he will not hand in a transfer request as he wishes to depart on good terms.
The dilemma for Tottenham is that if they do allow Modric to leave, it could spark an exodus of other key players, such as Gareth Bale, who has long been linked with Internazionale and Real Madrid. For the time being though, Levy is refusing to budge.
"For the avoidance of any doubt, let me reiterate that we shall not enter into any negotiations whatsoever, with any club, regarding Luka," he said. "We now consider this matter closed."
http://www.guardian.co.uk
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