Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas will hold talks with the club’s chief executive, Ron Gourlay, this week to determine the club’s transfer policy, with an improved bid expected to be lodged with Tottenham Hotspur for their unsettled midfielder Luka Modric.
The Croatian has publicly stated his desire to join Chelsea and handed in a transfer request this month after accusing Spurs chairman Daniel Levy of backtracking on an agreement to sell him to a bigger club this summer.
Modric saga not over yet
Tottenham insist the midfielder is not for sale at any price and have already rejected two bids, of £22 million and £27 million, from their London rivals.
The Argentinean Palermo playmaker Javier Pastore is joining big-spending Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth £37.5million, having turned down the Blues’ similarly substantial offer after showdown talks on Friday, and his Stamford Bridge snub looks to be bad news for Harry Redknapp, whose hopes of keeping Modric received a significant boost this week.
Sources close to the Croatian suggested he had been persuaded to drop his transfer request to leave for Chelsea following talks with chairman Daniel Levy and Redknapp.
Modric is now believed to have accepted that he’s stuck in north London, and will reportedly knuckle down for the new season.
And, as a result of missing on Pastore, representatives from the west London club have now been given the green light to return to Spurs with an improved offer of up to £40million in a bid to meet Redknapp’s lofty valuation of his star playmaker.
The 25-year-old’s absence from Spurs’ 3-2 victory over Brighton sparked more speculation concerning his future, but the manager was quick to put the matter to rest.
Redknapp has insisted that diminutive Croatian only missed the pre-season friendly against Brighton because of a chest infection.
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes recently tipped the Croatian as his ideal replacement at Manchester United, but it’s unlikely any bid from Old Trafford would be enough to sway Spurs.
Scholes has singled out Tottenham’s Luka Modric as the ideal candidate to take over his central midfield role at Manchester United.
Samir Nasri, Wesley Sniejder and Modric have all been touted as possible replacements for Scholes in the heart of United’s midfield.
Tags: Andre Villas Boas, Chelsea, Croatia, Harry Redknapp, Luka Modric, Manchester United, Paul Scholes, Tottenham Hotspur
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