Semi agree but mainly I dont. Clubs should be run in such a way (as only a few clubs are) thast they can afford to just make a statement and pay a player wages to sit in the reserves. Basically the bigger deal you give modric the more power you give him. You wont want a 100k a week player sitting in your reserves because he wants a move and is damaging the team morale. However you could probably afford to do this with a 50k a week player. Then you have the power. The more money they are on the more power they have over the club because they form a much greater ongoing liability. There is no easy solution and things need to be handled well. You dont get anywhere just being a harsh and strict boss. The best way is to know when the take and stand and when to give some concessions. With modric I would stand firm. You have him under contract till he is 31. So you basically have his best 4 years ahead. Why not just keep himfor this peroid and then let him go on a free. This is what I would of done with cesc being in arsense shoes. Instead we flogged him and the money just went into the boards greedy pockets.
All the club is doing is finding another way to give him an improved pay deal. Basically saying what we can't be seen to be giving you as wages, because of our wage cap, we'll call a loyalty bonus, instead. The result for the player is even better, as they get the money up front, instead of weekly.
It's easy to say we can afford to do that but we're run as a business and won't/can't accept paying £3.5mill a year to keep an asset that we won't use worth £35mill+. It'd be bad enough if we sold him for say £40mill as we'd do well to find another player half as good, let alone leaving him in the reserves and not even getting the money to improve other areas of the team. We took the hardline last summer, now's the time to meet him half way. He's seen the grass aint so green at Chelsea so he should be encouraged to play for us with a salary that more closely matches others of his abillity.
I'm hoping that Moddy will recognise that being a player at Chelsea, what with all the politics and back-stabbing that goes on, would make him very depressed. He seems like a quiet lad who enjoys his football. In which case, don't go to Chelsea, lad
Yes, the problem for the club is, would letting him go just be the thin end of the wedge? First Modric then who's next to want to go?
Failing that, the reports of a £3.5m bonus at the end of the season might help smooth things over...
