Tottenham reject Chelsea bid for Modric

Posted on July 13, 2011 by SoccerPunter

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has poured cold water on Chelsea’s latest offer for playmaker Luka Modric and said the player would take part in Spurs’s pre-season tour of South Africa.

Chelsea saw a 22 million bid ($35 million) for the 25-year-old Modric rebuffed last month but reportedly went back to their fellow English Premier League side with a 27 million offer on Monday.

Modric is on record as saying joining Chelsea would represent a “dream” move and with the Blues in next season’s Champions League, a competition Tottenham failed to qualify for after finishing fifth in the English Premier League last term, Spurs could yet have difficulty hanging on to their midfield maestro.

Adding to the potential problems in keeping an unsettled player at White Hart Lane was Modric’s public criticism of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy for “twisting the facts” regarding a meeting the pair had about his future last week.

Modric has insisted Levy went back on a deal to allow him to leave for a ‘bigger’ club but Spurs are equally adamant no such deal has ever existed.

Redknapp branded Chelsea’s opening offer for Modric a joke and was little more impressed with their latest bid.

“I still think 27 million is a pretty poor offer in my opinion for a player of that ability,” Redknapp told Sky Sports.

“It wouldn’t be anywhere near what I value him at if he was for sale, but he is not for sale.”

“There is nowhere to go with it really. That’s the end of it. The chairman has made his stance. He is not for sale and that’s it,” the 64-year-old former Portsmouth manager added.

When asked whether a bid of 30 million would soften Spurs’s stance, Redknapp replied: “I don’t think so. I honestly value him way in excess of that.”

Meanwhile Redknapp confirmed Modric would fly out with the rest of the squad to South Africa on Wednesday for a pre-season tournament featuring local sides the Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.

“He will be going to South Africa, for sure. He is the last lad in the world that would ever cause a problem. You would never meet a nicer boy. He has not got it in him to be nasty,” Redknapp said.

“There are players who would want to go who would be a real problem. I have come across many players who, if they wanted to go somewhere, then they would kick up and make sure he got away, but that’s just not in his nature.”

Tottenham captain Ledley King will miss the trip to South Africa following a knee operation on Monday.

Spurs expect the England defender, who played just nine times last term due to a groin injury, to be fit for the new season.