ContinueThe second year of the Luka Modric transfer saga took another twist yesterday, as the Croatian midfielder missed Tottenham’s final training session before their tour of the US.
It’s Real Madrid’s turn to court the talented playmaker, after Daniel Levy battled off Chelsea’s much publicised interest last summer and new Spurs coach Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed that he’s willing to Modric go if an acceptable offer were to come in.
It is widely believed the 26-year-old is keen for a move to the Spanish giants to be resolved sooner rather than later and if it means missing a pre-season tour of America to speed the transfer up, he could well not board the plane.
According to the Guardian Real Madrid have so far offered €32m (£24.9m), with a further €8m in add-ons, making the total package potentially worth a little over £31m, which is not enough for Daniel Levy, who is apparently holding out for as close to £40million as possible.
The Spurs chairman is renown for driving a hard deal and would favour a cash only deal from Madrid, and is not interested in any players in part-exchange. Tottenham have been offered Ricardo Carvalho and Nuri Sahin, among others.
The Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, is confident that Modric will move to his club and he would have taken encouragement from the player's no-show at Spurs Lodge on Friday. Modric did not train on Thursday either, the first scheduled day of his pre-season, although he did turn up at Spurs Lodge. He did not stay for long, leaving while the squad went through their morning session. Tottenham declined to explain why Modric did not attend the training ground on Friday.
Villas-Boas's priority midfield target is João Moutinho of Porto, his former club, while he is close to agreeing the permanent transfer of the striker Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City, with only the Togolese international’s wages the only thing to be finalised. However, the Moutinho deal would only be financed if Modric were to leave north London.
