Monday, 11 July 2011

The damage is done, so let Luka leave

I'll apologise for the Luka Modric fracas being the continued topic for discussion but Spurs' summer is on a knife-edge and the way we handle this is going to be a defining factor in the direction the club takes.

As usual, the story from each side is strikingly different and it seems that both sides have reneged on promises: Levy may have said he would discuss big offers for the Croatian, but Modric also said he was happy at Spurs and that he wouldn't chase a transfer.

Shielding your eyes from the summer sun and peering down the road to Ashburton Grove, it's painstakingly obvious what happens if you let these situations get on top of you.

The Fabregas-Barcelona debacle has rolled over and over for years, like a rusting old water wheel dredging dirt to the surface every time a transfer window comes around.

You can see the scene in Dubrovnik last summer, when our chairman was desperate for the Croatian to extend his contract…

Modric probably presented his dealbreaker, in which he would be allowed to speak to any big club that came in, Levy probably brushed it off, making a passing comment that "we'll discuss it at the time". Both sides go away happy, Levy knowing he's got his man, Modric feeling his demands have been met.

Until now, a season on, the chairman has forgotten his throwaway comment where as Modric is clinging to it. In fact, not so much clinging to it, as tugging at it and tearing the very fabric of his relationship with Tottenham Hotspur.

The difference with the situation at Arsenal is that, after all these years, they seem to have sorted it. Arsene Wenger has today announced that, while press speculation raged over Nasri and Fabregas seeking summer moves, both of them will now stay put. Simple as that, dealt with behind closed doors and announced with authority.

Tottenham and Modric, on the other hand, are getting into a very public spat. Daniel Levy's initial statement of intent to keep Modric was impressive. A staunch "no" was exactly what needed to go out into the public domain, but in private, he needed to take a more personal approach.

Holding Modric against his will is a recipe for disaster and will unsettle all the team's most important players. This doesn't mean we should let everyone leave whenever a bigger club comes in, but treating him like a decent human being and giving him some rope to play with is far better than a stone-wall "get out of my office".

Levy isn't exactly a man-manager and, if anything, he should probably have let Harry Redknapp do the talking. Tell Modric "give us one more season, see where we're at next summer or, if you're desperate, you can leave in January."

That way, if we get these "two or three big signings", Modric may have a change of heart. Now, however, the damage is done and we have a situation that needs arresting before it spirals out of our control.

Tell Chelsea that if they meet the £35-£40m valuation this month, then he can leave. If not, he's a Spurs player next season. end of. That way, the ball is in Chelsea's court and Modric can see how far his new favourite club are prepared to go to sign him.

But it needs doing right and it needs doing quickly because at the moment, you get the feeling that the knife-edge we're sat on at the moment is in danger of slicing us in two.

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