The Modric saga has dragged on all summer, and shows no signs of closure as we near the end of the transfer window. Tottenham have tried to hold on to the player, but if he really wants to go to Chelsea or another club then is it worth trying to hold onto him any longer? If Tottenham are to sell him, questions will arise as to why they have left it until the last minute, do they have anything to gain by making the sale so late in the summer?
Tottenham have shown in recent years that they like to do their business late in the transfer window, but there is a point reached where this policy makes little sense. So far this summer they have brought nobody in aside from Brad Friedel and despite the huge array of deadwood at the club, very few have left. Selling these players would have brought in a reasonable amount of funds to go out and get a quality striker, but instead we are reaching the last minute and Spurs are still stuck with a host of fringe players as well as an unsettled Modric. Obviously they have been trying to sell the fringe players, but Daniel Levy’s insistence on playing hardball over the fees of the players, and trying to recoup their original investment is not really helping.
Undoubtedly Spurs have transfer targets and it doesn’t make sense for them not to have followed these up sooner. Clearly a lot depends on the Modric saga, Spurs have been adamant in their stance to keep him, however as the player has signalled his intention to leave, they need to get rid of him, and quickly. With time in the transfer window running out, they need to force Chelsea or whoever else is interested to make a decent bid for him, in order to allow themselves enough time to bring in adequate replacements. They are holding out for mega money in light of some of the inflated fees paid for English stars this summer, but they should take an offer of around £35 million for Modric, as the risk of upset or negativity in the camp is too great to hold onto an unsettled player.
If they leave it much longer to deal in the transfer window, they risk another Berbatov situation, with a last minute deal being forced through, only to leave them without enough time to capture required targets and perhaps force them into a panic buy. If they are going to sell, they need to do it quickly so they can follow up their targets and adequately spend the money they will get in, to strengthen the squad. Holding out until the last minute might get them some extra money for the player, but is it really worth it?
The season has already started so to leave it this late to make deals is a risky business, players will take longer to settle and bed into the side if they come in at this late stage. It is in the clubs best interest for any new arrivals to have a decent pre-season and settle down at the club, getting to know new teammates, formations and tactics, before the season kicks off, but any new arrivals at Spurs are now unlikely to have that.
If they do decide to sell Modric, then questions will arise as to why a deal wasn’t done before, as they risk leaving themselves short by dealing at such a late stage. Although they wanted to keep the player, and are perhaps holding out for an astronomical last minute offer, sense has to prevail, and they need to think about how they can best prepare their squad as a whole for the new season, and whether a late deal has any benefit at all.
Written by Lauren Rutter for FootballFancast.com. Do Tottenham have anything to gain by leaving it so late to do their transfer dealings? Let me know your thoughts below, or follow me on Twitter @LaurenRutter for more comment and debate
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He’s NOT FOR SALE!!!! Get over it, move on and write about something else!
Talking garbage..Spurs know that they are better off holding onto Modric than selling him..Simple maths with a tiny bit of common sense , Players of Modric quality are rare, Spurs won’t be able to replace him..They won’t make another Carrick mistake, which set them.back 3-4 seasons, cost Jol his job..instead quite rightly they are keeping what they have..If last season they scored half the chances they created ,they would have made the CL. All they need is a goal scorer while keeping Modric..
Easy!
Do not give modric to chelskum 4 sure but phone sir alex and offer them Luka as they dont appear to be having any luck with sneijder. ask for Berbatov + 15-20m or Berbatov + Carrick. I know alex is a fan and might be up for this.
Our best game last season was in the san siro when we turned over ac milan 1-0, what a proffessional performance we bossed the midfield and that was simply because we played with 2 x Defensive MF (palcios + sandro) + 1 up top a Target Man (crouch) with Rafa in the hole and pace on the wings this is the formation I would like to see us play and the signing of adebeyor suggests redknap might give it a go.
adebeyor
is a great improvement on crouch as the TM.
rafa vdv
in the hole (banging in goals for fun like
lampard used to)
bale + lennon on the wings, devestating pace or Ruiz maybe if we get him on the right (goal threat)
Sandro + Carrick/ Diarra/ Huddelstone
the 2 DMF shielding the defence and dominating the midfield.
akotto + walker – reliable attacking full backs – good defenders
CB we are more than ok – would like to see samba/ cahill
Friedel !
berbatov on rotation with adebyor
see without formation the requirement of modric is not a neccesity. 2 Defensive midfielders is the way forward!
TonyRich, in fairness, we made a killing on Bent because of the sell-on clause.
I think Rednapp’s refusal to persuade Daniel Levy to sell Modric doesn’t make him a tactical and a good manager. Good managers always take risks, look for and develop new talents. He should take solace in Arsen Wenger good job he’s doing though he also has a dark side.How can you force someone to play for you whilst he’s not willing to. Keeping Modric now wont do him any good since the player made up his mind to leave. Modric will not give of his best as we all know him if he’s field for any match. Let him go to Chelsea and look somewhere for replacement.
Iver, the Carrick deal did not cost Jol his job as he finished 5th the subsequent season. Carrick sale was actually a great deal, and far from a mistake. We are holding on to Modric because Chelsea were trying to force a cheap deal. Levy only really sold cheaply once, and that was Darren Bent – but we were always going to make some sort of loss on that flop. Apart from that, we know that less than 30m will not get Modric. Out of principle we need to keep him for one more season. How dare Chelsea wade in and spend 50m on Liverpool’s Torres, yet refuse to pay 55% of that on Modric?
Where is the ambition Levy ?
So far no big names except Friedel on a free,
With 2 shirt sponsors, sell out home matches, champions league revenue, expensive new kits each season, new multi million pond kit sponsor deal lined up with Under Armour,yet the best we can do is loan a couple of rejects in Adebayor, who only cares about money and a Spanish kid in reserves for Juventus. May be just May be Modric has a point.
WE MUST KEEP MODRIC AT WHL WE WILL GET NO WHERE BEING A SELLING CLUB , I KNOW FULL WELL IT COULD BE VERY HARD TO KEEP A PLAYER WHO WANTS TO LEAVE BUT SURLY HARRY`S HUGS AND KISSES SHOULD SMOOTH THINGS OVER BUT YES WE ALLWAYS LEAVE TRANSFER`S FAR TO LATE AND THEN THE SPURS MUGS GET TOLD VERY FEEBLE EXCUSES AS TO WHY WE COULD`NT GET CERTAIN PLAYERS , THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WILL BE VERY VERY HARD TO GET INTO IF WE DON`T SIGN THESE PLAYERS LIKE YESTERDAY IS LEVY GOING TO RISK NOT GETTING THE STARS IN ON TIME OR IS IT JUST PRETEND TO SAVE THE CASH , WE NEED A HUGH MULTI MULTI OWNER LIKE WHAT MAN CITY GOT BUT LEVY IS HARD TO MOVE OUT HE WOULD PLAY HARD BALL AS HE DONE IN THE PAST WITH CHELSEA`S OWNER HE SPOILED A DEAL WITH THE BLUES OWNER BY BEING SO BLOODY GREEDY .