Triffic Tottenham – Spurs News Blog and Forum

Maybe I shouldn’t go any further with removing the cling film from the major can of worms that is Luka Modric possibly leaving us for Chelsea; another story chewed over so much that the Innocent Drinks Co. might consider it as an idea for a new smoothie flavour.

However, I like having the final say on stuff, especially football-related discussion. So, I have been wondering what would happen if Modrić DID leave for £30-£35m. Would it be that bad? Would it give other midfielders a chance perhaps?

Maybe this would be a sign of Harry crawling back on all-fours to Niko Kranjcar and both Croatians have expressed a desire to leave The Lane for different reasons.

From here I’ll assume that Modrić has left and Kranjcar is still here:

Let’s touch on the financial implications first. Modric surprisingly doesn’t believe in paper contracts, much like other footballers who don’t know what the words ‘legally-binding’ and ‘United Kingdom Law’ mean when signing a contract. So he’s decided to forget that he signed a new 6-year contract and forget that he appreciated Spurs for giving him exposure in the English League. Chelsea started with a rather paltry £22m bid, only a few million more than what Spurs paid for him back in 2009. But then they got more serious and offered closer to £30m. £25m plus Drogba would’ve convinced me to sell Modric. Playing hardball is the key to a good profit and a possible last laugh if he flops like Berbatov did in his first few seasons at United.

Chelsea have recently upped their bid to £30m PLUS a striker! But it was Daniel Sturridge who was to be included, not Didier Drogba. Sturridge would be a slight gamble whereas Drogba would be a surefire hit as we’ve all seen it for ourselves.

Kranjcar could finally get a proper run of games to exhibit his finesse on the pitch. I believe Kranjcar can do exactly what Modric can do and more. Modric has scored 9 goals in 91 appearances while Kranjcar has scored 11 goals in 40 appearances including the matches he entered as a substitute. That matches how many Robbie Keane has scored since returning from Liverpool, barring one extra appearance by Keane. A great playmaker like Modrić is a fantastic asset to any team, but a great goalscoring playmaker is even better!

Croatia’s national team are the Mexicans of Europe. They’re not the most successful in international competition, but they can sure put on a show like their more successful continental opponents; with a feast of fluid football and the odd individual trick thrown in, the only difference between them and teams like Brazil and Italy is a major trophy; and that doesn’t do them justice.

You say I’ve gone way off topic, but not quite. What I’m trying to say is that every Croatian midfielder I’ve seen play in recent years has great vision and skill on the ball. Kranjcar and Modrić share those attributes. It seems as if Slaven Bilić ensured it was a criteria for getting called up.

And even if Kranjcar was to leave as well, we’d still have perfectly good back-ups to fill the void. Giovani Dos Santos would get the games that he should’ve had when he first arrived. Bags of energy and skill from him would give the team some added pace. Sometimes the way we play can be laggy, passing across the pitch rather than towards the goal purely for possession purposes. No point in having the ball if you’re not going to do anything with it. Dos Santos is even more forward-thinking than some of our strikers.

If there was a complete clearout of the three aforementioned players, there’d be more incentive to look within our reserves and academy for a replacement. Dean Parrett will be great I’m telling you.

Have I been jumping the gun about how this team will cope without Modrić? Yes. It might not matter if Modrić wants to leave. Let the baby have its bottle if this is how he truly feels about staying at Spurs. Sure it’ll take a bit of time to adjust, but this squad has managed 5th place with constant injuries to defenders/other key players AND a measly goal difference of +7!

That tells me all I need to know about the team – They can cope with anything.
Players leaving for clubs viewed as ‘bigger’ is nothing new to Spurs.

New mantra proposal -To just get on with it is to do.