We still don't have any proof that he did. Until I see Modric, in person, saying "Yes, I want to leave" then, as far as I'm concerned, it's all hearsay.
Darren
Sorry, but I don't see the point in Pienaar. Not sure what the rest of the Spurs' faithful think of him, but he was a random signing and he's not been very effective, at all.
Huddlestone - Huddlestone is not bad, but I'd see him as adequate back-up for Sandro. A four man midfield which (generally, I would imagine) consisting of Lennon, Sandro, *NEW SIGNING*/Modric/ and Bale is very good and I don't really see where Huddlestone would fit in. Obviously you know more about him than I do, but from my own observations, he'd be decent back-up and nothing more.
Even if you don't have that much creativity in midfield, if your midfield work hard and work effectively as a team, then you could still do well next season, although that would largely depend on how prolific your strikers and attacking options would be. Look at Manchester United. Average midfield and they won the league. Why? Because they worked their socks off, stuck to their position, combative, communicated well, and knew how to tactically outsmart the opposition (courtesy of SAF of course, but you get my drift).
Keisuke Honda would be a realistic target.
Don't know too much about Badelj.
Hamsik is playing Champions League football and is on reasonably high wages, so I can't see him joining you.
Hazard - also playing Champions League football and said that Arsenal or Real Madrid would be his dream move....wages would also be an issue, as you rightly pointed out.
Power, pace, height and stability are also a very strong combination and again, it's also what United were endowed with last season.
You have every chance of making the top four again next season, just need to make a few tweaks to the squad and backroom staff, and you'd be right up there again, imo.
I suggested playing van der Vaart in a deeper role if Modric were to go and I suggested that Marin should be brought in to play the role that the Dutchman currently plays.
I think that it would kill two birds with one stone, especially if the money allowed us to bring is someone that can play the lone striker role effectively.
If we could get a decent fee (£30m?) plus Sturridge, then we could use the money to bring in Adebayor (controversially) and Marin.
A bit more pruning of the squad and we'd be fairly sorted.
Marin would be a good buy but he only recently ruled out moving when our name was mentioned. I fear VDV in the middle of the pitch would be found out defensively and even alongside Sandro a little too much pressure will be on him.
I think Levy is deadly serious, this time. His statement was as unequivocal as you can get. At present, i.e. this summer, there is no way Levy can go back on a statement as clearly, and strongly worded, as that. As to the future, who knows? we'll have to wait and see.
IMO, Modric is not the sort of character to throw a tantrum, or go on strike. However, if he comes out and clearly states that he does not wish to play for Spurs - then maybe Levy will have to think again.
I tried, I really did, but even after putting those words into an on line sentence generator they still don't make any intelligible sense.
If a bid of 35 million is made and Modric wants to leave then I am sure we will see an "open letter" along the lines of
"I and harry tried to convince Modric we could match his ambition but ultimately the players head had been turned, he decided that he no longer wanted to play for this club. Me and Harry are trying to build a team to bring success and to have an unhappy influence in the squad would be detrimental to this so we had no choice but to allow Modric his wish to leave on the basis we received an offer we found acceptable and now we will look to the future and bringing in players of the highest quality to help this club achieve its ambitions."
The sale of one player leads to the sale of other players, Lidls.
If Modric goes, then we may see a reaction from Bale, van der Vaart and the like.