I agree with most of what you've said there NSIS, but we don't know whether Modric is actually doing a Berbatov or not. We didn't know that Berbatov was doing a Berbatov! We do know that he's not available to play. Is that because of an injury, as is being claimed or is it because he's refusing to play? If it's the latter, then we might choose to suggest the former, to avoid devaluing him. It might also explain the apparent change of opinion from Redknapp.
The Athletico Bilbao game was a friendly though Ensil and he may just have been keeping his fitness levels up. The situation may have change since that fixture, too.
I have been reading all the discussions about Harry saying this saying that, what if he was responding to a question "supposing Modric was sold what do you think could happen". thoughts?
In which case, Ensil, WTF is Redknapp playing at? Why make comments like that if you know the player has settled down and accepted the situation.?
schteffen has said on the chelsea board there is a rumour that Spurs and Chelsea have been in secret discusion for a week,wonder if that's true?
Shock! Horror! Scoop! Redknapp contradicts himself. Happens every week doesn't it? Doesn't stop him being a good coach though.....
Try telling that to a few of my fellow Gooners. They berate Wenger on a daily basis for not talking about transfers. As for Modric, I think it's clear that he's wanted a move to Chelsea ever since he came out and said that 'I would like to go to Chelsea' (not to get Alan Tictchmarsh's autograph or stare at Charlie Dimmocks boobs) I can totally appreciate where Levy has been coming from, no club wants to sell their best players. But like the Fabregas situation, if a player wants out, ultimately there's very little you can do to keep him - and holding onto him against his will is usually to the detriment of the player, his team mates and the club as a whole.
I completely agree with Schteff and HD. i personally think a plan has been orchestrated from the end of the season when we didn't qualify for the CL. they knew on that day that it'd be likely that Modric would be on his bike, especially if the "gentlemans agreement" is true. they've stated for weeks and weeks that he's not for sale. suddenly one day, Kevin Bond makes a statement that puts doubt in our minds, and now look... harry's suddenly saying that the club are open to a move, 2 weeks before the end of the window. I wouldn't mind betting the plan has been put together from the start for the following reasons: 1) by stating that we won't be selling modric, it would give us better chance of attracting the best players that we possibly can. As we can't pay the wages, but perhaps some payers would look at the squad they could be playing with and this might help them in their decision in joining us. 2) it tests the clubs who are interested in the player to see how desperate they are and enables us to get as much money out of them as possible 3) it keeps us as fans happy as we think for months that we're moving in the right direction, when the reality is that it's another big player that will be sold, just like we've seen in the past. You guys may completely disagree with me, but it's not washing with me at the moment. like HD says, would Levy let harry say that if it wasn't true? he'd get a F-ing b*llockin'. the only difference in this window is that i believe we'll have the replacements before he leaves. Levy will not want to make the berbatov mistake again. does anyone know the official rules regarding the europa/CL and players being cup tied? Modric isn't playing tonight due to a "groin" problem. I'm not going to use this in my point, because I don't know the facts. But if it's true that a player would be cup tied, well that's just the icing on the cake for me.
I understand what you mean, Ensil. But, don't you think, given the size of Redknapp's gob, that if he'd been misquoted, or whatever. that he'd be letting everybody and his brother know about it, now? If he has genuinely been misquoted by The Guardian, then he needs to issue a denial, pretty quickly.
when Chelsea first said they were interested in Modric,he said he was happy at Spurs,then all of a sudden he wants to leave what changed his mind?
The Fabregas situation is slightly different though, Barca being his home club. If Dinamo Zagreb stumped up 40 mill for Modric i'd be happy to let him go.
In a nutshell I reckon we should do the following: Out: Modric £40M, Crouch £10M, Palacios £10M, Keane (gone) £3.5M, Bentley £5M, Jenas £5M, Giovani £5M, Hutton £5M, Bassong £5M - total: £88.5M In: Diarra £15M (Madrid), Willian £13M (Shakthar), Samba £12M (B'burn), Adebayor (Loan), Rossi £30M - total: £70M - job done, £18.5M in the bank for any other squad players we may need. In reality, we'll end up with Carlton Cole and Shefki Kuqi at 11:58 on deadline day with Bale and Modric departing at 11:59...
while that doesn't sound too bad it is a LOT of business to get done in the next 2 weeks [Edit] I meant the first bit. Cole+Kuqi and losing Bale+Modders sounds horrendous![/Edit]
There were many that also didnt believe the Modric quotes when they were first published. No idea if these Redknapp quotes have been taken out of context or not but he should probably be advised to hush up on the subject, the stance has been made that he is not for sale so just say nothing and leave it at that. Kevin Bond put his foot in it a few weeks back and now these apparant Harry quotes...... Conflict of interests between the manager or chairman? or a admission that Modric might well leave? I dont know but all i know is Levy will be facing a fans backlash if he goes back on his word now.
That makes it sound as if Chelsea have been quoted a figure and that Levy's not interested in any part-exchange deals, Ensil. I've heard Mereiles and Nasri touted as alternatives, but it looks like the Goon's going to Citeh. Perhaps Liverpool would be open to selling their Portugese playmaker, as they've brought in Charlie Adam and still have a lot of other options in that area?
It doesn't sound like they've been turned down though, Ensil. It sounds like they've been told, "He'll cost you this much. Take it or leave it".
Yes, those are the actual words Ensil, but it's not clear what he means by certain parts of what he's saying. "We have approached Tottenham before regarding the player, I don't know if it's viable or not" Pretty straightforward. Contact was made, the transfer didn't happen and he's unsure whether it would be possible to complete a deal. Now to paraphrase him: "I don't know to what extent we can go regarding his price because we are speaking about a high amount and nothing else basically." Now what does that mean? I'd suggest that he's saying that either the price they've been quoted for Modric is very high or that they believe a truly massive bid would see Levy change his mind. The "nothing else basically" bit suggests the former, to me.
