Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Tottenham, Man City pushed back as world-class ace snubs Premier League transfer

Luka Modric of Real Madrid

Tottenham and Manchester City have been left disappointed in their hopes of capturing Luka Modric from Real Madrid.

The central midfielder is in the final few months of his contract with Los Blancos, leading to rumours of a Premier League return this summer. Reports claim Tottenham are gunning for a reunion with the Croatian as Antonio Conte has green-lighted a move.

Back in November, sources suggested the 36-year-old was unhappy at Real and was keen to leave for Manchester City.

He apparently held the desire of playing under Pep Guardiola for a couple of years before ending his career with City’s affiliate club, New York City FC.

Despite these rumours, Modric is now on the verge of penning an extension with the Spanish giants.

And the playmaker claims he has never even considered coming back to Spurs, or the Premier League for that matter.

During an interview with the Daily Mail, Modric said: “Since I left England and joined Real Madrid my only focus was Real Madrid. I never thought about anything else.

Luka Modric pledges allegiance to Real Madrid

“I was only focused on Real Madrid and to do my best in the best club in the world.”

Modric emerged into one of Spurs’ best players between 2008 and 2012. But Real came calling before the start of the 2012-13 season and he could not refuse.

Modric has reached another level while in La Liga and won the prestigious Ballon d’Or award in 2018.

On his time in the Spanish capital, Luka Modric added: “As I approach ten years at Real Madrid what I can say?

Arturo Vidal to leave Inter Milan for Conte reunion at Tottenham

Arturo Vidal to leave Inter Milan for Conte reunion at Tottenham

Arturo Vidal to leave Inter Milan for Tottenham

“Ten amazing years, a dream, I achieved a lot. Maybe even more than I expected but I still want to continue achieving big things at Madrid.

“I’m never satisfied with what I did. I always want more and hopefully in the future I will achieve some big things again.”

As the star is entering the twilight years of his career, he is regularly asked about when he may hang up his boots.


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“How long I have? I don’t know, it’s difficult to say. What I’m doing is going week by week, month by month, year by year and we’ll see how I feel.

“Time will tell how long it will take but I don’t put any limits (to how long he can play). I’m just enjoying at the moment and hopefully it will continue a few more years.”

It seems Spurs and City will be left disappointed as they plot a fanciful move for the four-time Champions League winner this summer.

Spurs got ‘biggest bargain’ in January – report

Meanwhile, Conte and Tottenham picked up the biggest bargain of the January transfer window, according to a report from data analysts.

After a couple of failed pursuits, the club added two players to their ranks on deadline day. Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski both signed from Juventus.

As per BBC Sport, Uruguay midfielder Bentancur joined for an initial £15.9million. That could rise by £5m if certain clauses are met.

21-year-old winger Kulusevski, meanwhile, has agreed an 18-month loan deal which will cost Spurs £8.3m. They have the option to buy the Swede for £29.2m.

Data analysts Twenty First Group, as cited by the Daily Mail, now reveal that Conte and Paratici pulled off a masterclass with Bentancur.

Omar Chaudhuri, the analysts’ chief intelligence officer, said: “According to our player valuation model, Tottenham’s signing of Bentancur was the most undervalued deal of the window in the Premier League, reportedly costing around half of our €40m (£34M) valuation for the Juventus player.

“Acquiring a first-choice player from a Champions League last-16 team normally comes at a premium.”

READ MORE: Tottenham backed to pull off transfer coup by beating Liverpool to top-class Leeds man