Photo: REX Features
The Telegraph has reported that Croatian star midfielder Luka Modrić has not yet attended Tottenham Hotspur training this summer and will not join the team on their North American tour. In response to Modrić’s absence, Spurs management have fined the Croatian £80,000, which could grow if he doesn’t join the club soon.
It seems as if Modrić has officially checked out and is just waiting for his dream move to Real Madrid to be finalized. The Spanish champions have already thrown £27 million at Spurs for their magician, but Tottenham may very well be looking at a steeper price tag, in the range of £40 million.
A lot will be determined this week on Modrić’s future. This time last year, the same script played out, only for Modrić to remain with the club and have an exceptional season, helping Spurs finish top-four in England. However, with Chelsea winning Champions League, forcing Tottenham into Europa League, Modrić will do whatever it takes to get back into Europe’s elite tournament.
Where does Modrić end up? Can he dare survive another year without Champions League football or should he stay strong?
The Telegraph reporting PSG willing to match spurs valuation!
Ziva, I would have thought that all of these countries (France, England, Spain) would have some sort of tax amnesty vis a vis Croatia similiar to what happens when a US citizen plays sports professionally in Canada for example. These athletes are in and out of the country soon enough that they end up paying tax in their home jurisdiction, which is often Florida. That is why they never buy property in Canada, to avoid having to pay the higher Canadian income tax. Just a thought.
Mandzukic scoring in a friendly match
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3275/bundesliga/2012/07/24/3262464/beijing-guoan-0-6-bayern-munich-robben-on-song-as-bavarians
Luka will excel and improve at Real, which in turn will improve the NT. It’s the best move for many reasons, and money included as Ziva points out. The Spanish game is much more suited to him than the EPL, stop being worryworts, he’ll be fine. Plus lets remember he may also be playing for maybe the best coach in the world! Lets hope he gets there early enough so that he gets in a full training camp, which will ease his transition. There’s a reason Real wants him, and its not to sit on the bench… they’re no dummies, especially considering the cash outlay. Luka and Ozil will be a really nice tika taka duo to play against Xavi and Iniesta. Period.
Aside from the obvious money issues.
Man United picked up Kagawa this season for a hefty sum, and I don’t really see Man U rushing to pick up Modric after that signing.
PSG just dropped a load of cash on Silva for some reason, and I’m not really sure how much they have left to spend. They do have a good set of new players though, and it’s the start of a very exciting European squad.
http://www.psg.fr/en/News/300001/Team-Staff
For me, Real is really the last place I wanted to see Luka. I think he plays 90% of those games, but I think I’m just afraid to see the possibility of him failing to do well in the Spanish game.
If I am Modric i would avoid Man U and PSG unless they are willing to give him $2-3 million more per year in salary than Real Madrid. The tax rate is much higher in those two countries than Spain.
If Modric receives a $6 million salary from Man U, he will lose half that money to taxes and takes home just over $3 million.
If Modric receives a $6 million salary from Real Madrid, he will still take home $4.5 million.
We are talking about an extra $1.5 million anually based on the same salary by playing in La Liga over the EPL. Over a 4 year contract, that is $6 million.
I agree with you Armada. If I’m Luka I go to Levy and tell him PSG is the place!
League would be great for him and he would be da MAN in their midfield with Zlatan as the finisher.
this stuff with Modric is just getting annoying already and the more I think about it, the more I hope he goes to ManU or PSG. Real have had too many ‘big name’ signings go wrong or not see enough playing time, perform to expectations, etc.
Aside from the Modric deal, another deal is in the works that feeds directly off of another hrvat.
Tim Cahill is being linked to move from Everton for only 1m to the New York Red Bulls. Needless to say, Jelavic came in and scooped up that starting spot pretty quickly. Sad to see a guy like Cahill fall off the wagon so hard, but it looks like Jelavic won’t be manning up with the Aussie any longer.
I haven’t seen Kaltenburg in years. Is it even still around?
As long as it doesn’t taste lie Kaltenburg beer.
This is what I’m talking about!!!!! Hajducko Pivo
http://www.24sata.hr/nogomet/bili-dobili-svoje-pivo-od-sada-se-nazdravlja-hajduckim-275289
My bad, thanks!
Modric is not in the US. He is still in England training at Spurs’ facility.
Modric has reported to spurs camp in the US according to the UK’s Daily Mail.
Guess the fine was pretty good motivation to get off the plaza and to stop playing cards!
well, Modric shouldn’t have signed a SIX year contract. Mamic is doing a very poor job advising Luka 😉
To those commenting on the high valuation re Modric it is simply negotiation by Levy. Aim high allows for movement in finalizing sale price.
Any smart negotiator begins by asking for the moon, and maybe some Qatari owners richer than God bite on it. If not, haggling begins!
You guys really have to take your loyalties to Luka out of the equation and simply view it as a standard business sale. Ultimately he will be sold, let’s see who the highest bidder is…..just like in the NHL when a player only offers up limited teams to be traded to, it works to the players disadvantage. You need price tension to affect a transaction. Luka needs to open up the destinations if he really wants out of spurs.
@Ante B lol, i figured as much, but wasn’t sure, due to my limited exposure to purgeri 🙂
thiago silva was sold for 42 million. i shall say no more.
Modric knows the risk of going to Real. He knows there is a chance he could be on the bench. Real is an iconic club. You usually dont pass up chances to play at such a place. Plus, the money will be better at Real than at any club in the EPL. It makes sense for him.
JP,
I was joking.
modric will ruin his whole career if he goes to madrid. they are loaded with world class players in midfield , who actually score and play defense. he is great but not that great. he will have splinters in his ass.
Haha, that’s stupid. He doesn’t want to, they don’t pay him enough and they haven’t won ANYTHING in decades!
I would rather him stay at spurs then Madrid
Levy’s saying he is worth 40 million Pounds, but he certainly isn’t paying him like he is worth 40 million. By Levy’s valuation, Modric would rank as one of the largest transfers in history. If he thinks Modric is worth that much, than he should pay him one of the highest salaries in the game.
Levy’s valuation is a Joke. At just shows you how deceitful he is. What is Modric supposed to do? He has to do something drastic to force a move. Because apparently, Levy is being unreasonable.
@Ante B… i’m surprised that you don’t know… it might be kvarner/lika/primorac slang then, not sure, but certainly commonly used in my parts. I suppose you could translate it as, “dude” (the original meaning, as in city slicker), or “tough guy”… maybe “frajer” is a reasonable equivalent.
Anybody else aware of this word…? if so perhaps you could assist my inadequate translation 🙂
What’s a baraba?
I don’t understand how people are taking Levy’s side on this. Taking all bias out of this, who actually believes modric is worth 40 million pounds (almost 50 million euros)….there are only a handfull of players worth this fee of which Modric isn’t one, I don’t think David Villa would even fetch this price preinjury
I’m not going to argue transfer price to an exact number but 50 million euros is ridiculous
Tottenham isn’t a team designed to be top 4, if they were, they would shell out for other players to try and win a title, levy is holding out to increase is return on Modric, that simple
Also, don’t many professional american athletes hold out before they sign their big contracts…I understand it’s stupid to not go to practice, etc., but Levy is un encourage able, honestly
And please, no one start with the athlete’s make too much money nonsense, if modric was that type of player, he would have doubled his wages last year by signing an extension to his contract, he’s grossly underpaid for a man of his talents
Looks like he’s back in training after the fine. Was so unprofessional of him to not show up. Everyone knows Levy will let him go when his valuation is matched and the teams bidding for him have the money so it’s surely just a matter of time. This is different from last summer when Modric wasn’t for sale.
@Dukic
Berbatov was different cause Levy said he wasn’t for sale, not the same for Modric.
levy has done the same thing to berbatov. i mean seriously modric isnt rated as high as they say he is. unfortunate modric believed in the gentlemans agreement of last year. if levy wants to be the best he needs to sign players. plus i hate that he is acting like he is the owner of the club. sorry to say this but karma is a bitch and its biting him in the ass.
I hope Modric goes to Manchester and continually knocks Spurs out of the top 4, preferably out of the top flight
I really don’t like Levy after this. Luka and him had a gentleman’s agreement about him leaving…this is the second time it’s been violated
Hahaha, I still remember Bilic’s quote:
“Only Kaka’ is better than Modric.”
Hopefully Mourinho hasn’t remembered that saying, haha. But if he is a fan of Modric and a lot of money has been spent on him, I don’t think there will be intense problems with the bench. PSG is nice, too; I won’t have a problem with Modric teaming up with “Serie A.”
I know we all want Modric to Real – but what are their depth charts looking like at CM?
Off the top of my head, Luka is going to be battling for a position against Ozil, Kaka, Xabi, Di Maria etc. Again, I’m not some formation whiz or awesome tactician, but that’s some stiff competition. I feel like he just won’t walk onto the start XI…
Plus, what happens if he has a dip in form, picks up a few knocks? He’ll be riding the pine in no time.
I feel like a move to Real could have an amazing upside and really vault Luka into the cream of the crop, the best of the best. Or we could be in for a huge let down.
Maybe PSG would be a better fit? I’m not a PSG fan in any way, but looking at the roster, he could more or less walk on to it and probably be one of the top 3 midfielders in all of Ligue 1. They’re in Europe all the time, they have tons of money to throw at more players, etc.
Actually, the Jews are great when it comes to money issues. So Levy is the perfect person to handle the Modric negotiations for Spurs.
What some of you jock-sniffers need to remember is that Levy is looking out for what is best for Spurs, not what is best for Modric. He knows Modric will never play another match for Spurs. His only focus right now should be to gain max value for Modric.
Dukic says:
levy is a jew
So what, he’s got a job to do which includes getting max value for his asset.
I’d do exactly the same thing, religion is irrelevant.
levy is a jew.
Anyone else notice how “Mr. Istina” is always talking about kurve and jock sniffers… is he a priest or a frustrated baraba? 🙂
Ps. thoughts and prayers to the people of Selce and the south Kvarner, lets hope that fire gets under control!!!
Only a few days before the Olympics start, so I doubt you will have much luck getting an interview unless its a email exchange.
This Misura chick is OK. By Olympic female athlete standards she is very good, but if you are on the coast during the summer months I don’t think anyone is goind a double take on her. He non-doctored photos don’t look at all like these photshopped ones.
@JM,
We have been trying to get a hold of most of the girls on the olympic basketball team. So far, only Lisa came through with an interview.
Most dudes will be watching the women’s team at the olympics because of their good looks, just how women watch men’s sports because of their good looks. Ladies, the tables have turned.
Elvis has a good point. Come on Denis. antonija misura. an interview.! get on it! voted bested looking woman at the olypmics
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1266576-croatian-basketball-player-antonija-miura-is-most-beautiful-woman-at-olympics
Sportske Novosti is reporting that Modric will sign for Real Madrid this week in the 37-38 million euros
@Ziva Istina,
hahaha. Go big or go home ha.
Does Modric look bad in all of this???? Sure, but who cares.
Dude wants out and this is what you do when you want to leave. This is not an average case where you can compare an average office worker to Modric. Modric is special and is treated as such. Same thing in the business world. Senior leadership gets away with some things that the average Joe working in his cubicle would not be allowed to get away with.
Modric’s next move should be to get back to Cro, go straight to the island of Pag and make the drive to Zrce. Upon arrival at the STD capital of Croatia, Modric should wear a Real Madrid jersey and surround himself with the finest drugged-up kurve he can find and make sure he gets photograffed by all the jock-sniffers and jock-chasers who can then post those photos on Facebook. At that point the tabloids in London pick up on the photos and splash them across their pages. These photos eventuall work their way back to Spurs and Levy goes nuts seeing those images of Luka partying while the team is training in the US of A.
in my opinion he shouldn’t be boycotting the training sessions
Some good points from all of you on this topic. I’m really torn on who to blame in this situation. Modric is making himself look bad in this situation but I get where he is coming from. Tottenham are not so quick to let him go. Modric should at least be professional about it and go to training, fly out to the states for the preseason tournament, and honor his contract.
At this point, I want to see Modric at Real or even PSG. With the signing of Ibra, PSG will be looking to make some noise this year. I mean Luka wouldn’t want to stroll down the Champs-Élysées with his girl?
.
@ JELIC . in signing a contract, i believe you are agreeing to play football in exchange for wages. you can elect to not play football and that is your right, but you’ll consequently face a financial penalty. this is the case with modric, as he’s going to get fined. there’s nothing babyish about modric doing what he’s doing as he is accepting the monetary consequences that come with it. one could almost call it noble that he is willing to pay these fines so that he can get to a better place to play football and win championships (although he’ll be heftily compensated at real) . in additon, he risks injury by playing in which case his transfer hopes would be seriously derailed
He has every right to be mad at this point and no one will blame him, even Tottenham fans, but this is not the way to do it. He’s embarrassing himself acting like this. Dude needs to sac up and do his job. Does he think he’s the only person in the world who hates where he works? We all know he isn’t going to play at Spurs this season, If I were Real Madrid, I would be skeptical about his personality if he’s acting like this. Finish what you started at Spurs, Luka, and we’ll see you in Spain within the month. They’re going to re name that team after him. Real Modric.
Hey DinamoDennis, what part of the standard player’s contract is that clause located in? LOL
Fact is I could never understand the European notion of a contract. Player signs it, commits to the club as long as he has what he needs. I wish I could find a contract like that.
You have to provide everything you contracted to. Me? When I don’t feel like it anymore, I can move on.
That’s certanily fair, right?
Man up Luka, you look as silly as every other over-paid pro soccer player with too high an opinion of themselves.
@Jelic
Any player has the right to leave if the organization isnt doing well. THey clearly are not doing enough to be considered contenders.
Modric has every right to force their hand. He has been patient but he needs to move on.
BTW have you guys see Antonija Misura. Wubba Wubba…How about an interview with her?
I love Luka as a player, but in this instance he is dead wrong.
He has a contract he signed in good faith, man up and honour your commitment. Unless the contract says he is able to bail on the team if they don’t have CL football he is acting like a spoiled child.
This is the sad state of affairs in world football. Petulent, pima donna athletes who believe they are above a contract. Imagine the outcry if Tottenham walked away from the deal if say Luka was hurt like Eduardo was? The outcry would have been unbelievable.
Grow up Luka and be a man!
This all about getting the most money for Modric. Levy is looking to get more from Real Madrid with rumors running around that Chelsea and PSG would mapy more than what Real is willing to pay now. Modric at this point only want Real and wont agree to contract terms with Chelsea or PSG.
Levy wants to max out the amount in a transfer and does not want to send him to another club in London, so all he is hoping for is an increased offer from Real Madrid.
enough is enough……if tottenham don’t want to spend like a world-class team to keep/attract world class talent, they need to let modric go. he has stayed long enough….he now needs to head up the food chain and play on a more talented team. time for spurs to reclaim their place as a mid-table team and for modric to head off to a truly world-class club.
i hope he gets the move he wants
Tell the English to lump off. I Cant stand them and their low life’s who come to Croatia during the summer and act like total savages like at the Garden Festival. They ruined their country and we dont want them.
No one in that picture looks too impressed with the photographer.
As for the whole hold out issue. Good for Luka, fuck tottenham and this bullshit. They already held him back from joining Chelsea last season and they went to win the CL so you can only imagine how bitter he is this offseason. I would punch my boss in the face if a better organization wanted to hire me and they held me against my will.
their new coach is nowhere near as good as redknamp , liverpool will jump tott so theres no chance of chmp league. Modric isnt gettn any younger so nows the time, who knows if he stays at tott anothr year, theyll go backwards , he might get a serious injury and nver get a chance at madrid. I say fuk tott off , fancy wantn 40 mill, bunch of money hungry jews.