With the winter transfer frenzy about to hit boiling point, the usual suspects will take turns to fill the sports pages during the January window. Most speculation, of course, will be total paper-selling tosh. In actual fact the winter window tends, with a few sporadic exceptions, to be a place for the desperate, looking to bolster their comparatively thin squads in order to avoid the dreaded drop. Further up the tables, clubs seem more or less content to consolidate until the summer, when players aren’t cup-tied and the real money changes hands.
But one of the names that is sure to be regularly mentioned in the imminent melee is that of Luka Modric, the silky but steely Croatian, who would be pretty close to the top of most wanted lists of the elite clubs. Chelsea were the most sincere suitors over the summer and made bids in July and August that dallied between derisory and decent. But perhaps they should have tried harder. Because their stock has since fallen to the point where few are backing them to finish above Tottenham, let alone win the league. If the midfielder had been added to an ageing Chelsea side in the summer they might well be challenging for the title but, now, Modric would surely only be going there for money – a not improbable scenario these days. Chelsea are still in the Champions League but, on the whole, Spurs are a much more complete side and surely one that is currently far more fun to play for.
If Modric does leave in the winter window it would most feasibly be for Manchester United. City could match his ambition but really don’t need him. Modric himself hasn’t completely ruled out a move but it would take at least £35-40 million to prise him from his long term contract and, although United would categorically be a better team with him, continued questions will be asked about Sir Alex Ferguson’s spending power under the Glazers until he does break the bank again. There is no doubt that Fergie admires Modric. Despite his lack of scoring prowess he seamlessly links his team together with rapier passing, an acute sense of position, great energy and rare vision. The hapless but still handy Alan Hansen recently summed up Luka’s brilliance by stating that if ‘the ability to find time and space is the hallmark of a great player, Modric has weeks of it when he is on the ball.’
It seems unlikely that Modric will leave before the summer but what is central to the whole process is whether little Luka believes that Harry Redknapp will stay at Spurs beyond the end of the season. For some reason, the excellent cockney seems to be close to drinking from the poisoned yet bizarrely alluring chalice of England management. Don’t ask me why. He’s building something great at Spurs, with no real pressure or expectations, but he seems to be the latest in a long line of managers who thinks he can do a job for the national team. All power to him for answering his country’s call. He is, without doubt, the best man for the job. But, in the midst of a dwindling international scene and at a time when he is perhaps three players shy of challenging for the biggest club honours, Spurs surely represents the best chance of personal success.
Realistically, Spurs will only keep players like Modric and Bale if their inimitable manager puts pen to paper on his own contract.
Oni taiwo
Dec 30, 2011 at 6:06 am
If chelsea refuse to sign modric dey must make sure to sign kaka
Emmacool
Dec 30, 2011 at 6:33 am
I dont think modric will go neither sides(man utd,chelsea) with the club’s perfomance right now, its imposible unless if he goes there because of money.