When the Levy Breaks
When the Levy Breaks
Every transfer window is marred (or spiced up, whichever way you look at it), with that one controversial switch. We’ve had a few of those already this time round, with a manager making the headlines for once. Alex McLeish’s move to Villa was the stuff the Hollywood tabloid writers have wet dreams about. But there’s a new, more significant storm brewing, and it lies in London.
No, I’m not talking about Cesc Fabregas. I’ve given up speculating about whether he will stay at Arsenal or go. It’s the Luka Modric saga that’s threatening to boil over into an ugly volcano that could well erode Tottenham’s dressing room.
I feel that both club and player are being stupid about the whole scenario. Yes, he is a key player - but he’s had a taste of Champions League football, and he wants more. Who can blame him? Yes, he signed a six year contract in 2010, but it’s more than a little naive on Modric’s part to have fallen for the “gentlemen’s agreement” that Daniel Levy offered him; the assurance that he would be sold should the right club come along. Especially in this day and age when morality in the world of football is as sparse as the hair on Levy’s head. It’s a business, pure and simple. Clubs are corporations, players are employees. Boo-hoo-hoo and all that, but this is the reality.
While Levy is giving Modric the cold shoulder, Harry Redknapp sits completing the good-cop-bad-cop routine, by repeatedly telling the press what a good boy Luka is, and how he would never brew up a storm over his transfer. Fact is, he might be all quiet about it now, but if Spurs continue to reject Chelsea’s advances, Modric will not be happy. It will reflect on the pitch and in the dressing room. It’s only human nature to look at people around you and start to appropriate yourself to what’s happening to them. What if Van der Vaart and Bale begin to feel that they are being shackled into some grand plan that Redknapp has which may or may not reach fruition? What then?
If Spurs have any sense, they will set a definite price on Luka’s head. If he’s got 5 years left on his contract, they’re entitled to ask Chelsea to pay the contract’s worth and then some. It’s only fair. If Abramovich has enough oil stocks to spare, he will make the move. If not, Luka can’t grudge Tottenham for not listening to offers meeting his valuation. There’s no point keeping a player against his will and rejecting good offers because you think you’re going to build a team around him. Similarly, a player needs to recognize that he is worth a certain amount, and can’t demand a club to make a loss to meet his whims. This isn’t a game of Football Manager where players are commodities with little arrows denoting their morale. They are real people, who have real ambitions. If Levy doesn’t give Modric a fair chance, he will rebel, no matter how many praises Redknapp sings to The Sun. It’s human nature.
