I can't really see what's to be so offended about. No one makes their best bid straight away, that's basic negotiation. Likewise saying he is not for sale isn't the same as actually meaning it. Again, could be just a negotiation tool. How many times have players 'not for sale' eventually been sold??
Levy is the only one who knows whether he will sell or not. I suspect not. He seems prepared to keep a potentially unhappy player rather than sell to a rival. Fair play to him if he sticks to his guns but only Modric's performances for you next season will prove whether this was a good decision or not.
Lots of teams make the best bid straight away, that's how they enter into negotiations in the first place. For example, how many times were Barca rebuffed when bidding for Alexis Sanchez? None - the only team knocked back were Man City, because Sanchez had no intention of going there, to the point he didn't even board a plane to meet with City officials.
(Or, in the case of clubs where Damien Comolli is in charge of purchases, they bid way over the odds, and the selling club try not to laugh too loudly when they hear the proposed figure...)
When a club say a player is not for sale, and reject two bids, that's not negotiation - that's saying no.
Besides, we know the real reason Chelsea are submitting low bids compared to the large fees they offered Torres, Shevchenko or Essien: they're hoping to get a player on the cheap so they just about manage to comply with Financial Fair Play rules next season, which gives us two reasons not to sell - we want to keep hold of Modric, and why should we help Chelsea keep within budget next season?
