Spurs sign Luka Modric

[thomas]

Top players don't need a club sold to them ffs.  Their mind is 99% made up beforehand.

[johnnypd]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

 

Why? NE5 only ever wants his managed backed & he has been backed the deal didnt come off.

 

we were in pole position, had them at the training ground and didn't offer them enough, apparently. doesn't reflect well on the negotiating team if true.

 

What if we don't think he's worth what they want?

 

you have to pay a premium for quality. if keegan wanted him the board should've shelled out for him. i'd rather we spend an extra one or two million in excess of what a player is worth just to get them in the squad, than miss out altogether and see the player go to a big rival, all for the sake of saving a couple of million. money sitting in the bank isn't going to do us any good. if it was Keegan who pulled the plug then that is a different matter but it doesn't seem to be the case, and even then he should have enough backing to not worry about one or two million here and there. £15.8m is a reasonable fee anyway, the rest that spurs will be paying is probably performance related add-on fees which should be no problem - if the lad fails they don't pay these add-ons, if he succeeds then they're well worth it.

 

so far the board's track record on Keegan transfer targets is - Kalouda - haggled over price so missed out, Woodgate - entered negotiations too late and missed out to big rivals, Barnes - haggled over price so didn't buy in Jan, Modric - haggled over price and missed out to big rivals. mix that with allardyce's comments about Mort being naive leading to us missing out on a number of transfers last summer, and it is clear the board have everything to prove this window. this is not exactly the best of starts.

 

I'd agree with this if we knew that this had actually happened with the Modric deal. What I'd like to think was that KK decided he wasn't worth that sort of money (I haven't seen Modric play so don't know whether that's likely or not). If, as you say, they did haggle over the odd couple of million then that doesn't bode well for the summer at all, and they need to realise we're not going to improve if their not willing to use Ashley's money to outbid competitors. However at the moment we just don't know why the move didn't happen - maybe he wanted to move to London, or maybe he thought Spurs was a better option for football reasons (in which case he's going to have egg on his face next year imo). You also have to consider how he's been advised - agents can have a big influence on these things. If it turns out you're right and they have haggled, I'd agree that they've let Keegan down and they'll need to learn fast.

 

About Woodgate and Baines, I wouldn't blame anyone for not signing in January as there were just too many things going on. Ashley and Mort are new to this game and I'm willing to cut them some slack for that, but I can see why people will put January down as a failure on their parts and that's a fair enough opinion really.

 

nufc.com had an interesting comment yesterday - they reckoned that with Wise and the other two now responsible for identifying players, and then going after them once KK's given the go-ahead, Keegan has effectively been taken out of the transfer negotiations. If that's the case I agree with Niall and Biffa - that is a criminal waste of KK's 'pull' and powers of persuasion. Whilst we're languishing in the bottom half of the table, we need all the help we can get to lure top players here. Once their here they'll love it under Keegan, but it's convincing them this summer that is going t be the hard part. Although Keegan's reputation might not count for as much with the likes of Modric as it did with Lee, Beardsley, Ginola etc (who could remember him as a player), he's still got to be part of the negotiations surely?

 

good post

 

with this case i don't think it's much to do with the negotiating team failing to sell the place to Modric and Spurs doing a better job at that. From what the lad who lives in croatia on here says, and media reports corroborate, is that the Mamic brothers represent both modric and the club, and that the player himself doesn't have much input into which place he'd prefer. that means it essentially comes down to money, how much those two can cream off from signing-on fees and wages, and how much they can earn for the club through the fee. either spurs offered to pay more or they offered to pay in a way which best fulfilled the Mamic bros desires. we might've been up for spending just as much but perhaps less up front or less in wages.

 

I just hope the next target on Keegan's list, like Modric, is willing to join us and that we don't faff around.

[Jackie Broon]

I doubt that's true. Tbh, if I were a top player, with no connection to Newcastle, the club would have to do some selling to get me to come here rather than London.

[Guest float one in]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

 

Why? NE5 only ever wants his managed backed & he has been backed the deal didnt come off.

 

we were in pole position, had them at the training ground and didn't offer them enough, apparently. doesn't reflect well on the negotiating team if true.

 

What if we don't think he's worth what they want?

 

you have to pay a premium for quality. if keegan wanted him the board should've shelled out for him. i'd rather we spend an extra one or two million in excess of what a player is worth just to get them in the squad, than miss out altogether and see the player go to a big rival, all for the sake of saving a couple of million. money sitting in the bank isn't going to do us any good. if it was Keegan who pulled the plug then that is a different matter but it doesn't seem to be the case, and even then he should have enough backing to not worry about one or two million here and there. £15.8m is a reasonable fee anyway, the rest that spurs will be paying is probably performance related add-on fees which should be no problem - if the lad fails they don't pay these add-ons, if he succeeds then they're well worth it.

 

so far the board's track record on Keegan transfer targets is - Kalouda - haggled over price so missed out, Woodgate - entered negotiations too late and missed out to big rivals, Barnes - haggled over price so didn't buy in Jan, Modric - haggled over price and missed out to big rivals. mix that with allardyce's comments about Mort being naive leading to us missing out on a number of transfers last summer, and it is clear the board have everything to prove this window. this is not exactly the best of starts.

 

I'd agree with this if we knew that this had actually happened with the Modric deal. What I'd like to think was that KK decided he wasn't worth that sort of money (I haven't seen Modric play so don't know whether that's likely or not). If, as you say, they did haggle over the odd couple of million then that doesn't bode well for the summer at all, and they need to realise we're not going to improve if their not willing to use Ashley's money to outbid competitors. However at the moment we just don't know why the move didn't happen - maybe he wanted to move to London, or maybe he thought Spurs was a better option for football reasons (in which case he's going to have egg on his face next year imo). You also have to consider how he's been advised - agents can have a big influence on these things. If it turns out you're right and they have haggled, I'd agree that they've let Keegan down and they'll need to learn fast.

 

About Woodgate and Baines, I wouldn't blame anyone for not signing in January as there were just too many things going on. Ashley and Mort are new to this game and I'm willing to cut them some slack for that, but I can see why people will put January down as a failure on their parts and that's a fair enough opinion really.

 

nufc.com had an interesting comment yesterday - they reckoned that with Wise and the other two now responsible for identifying players, and then going after them once KK's given the go-ahead, Keegan has effectively been taken out of the transfer negotiations. If that's the case I agree with Niall and Biffa - that is a criminal waste of KK's 'pull' and powers of persuasion. Whilst we're languishing in the bottom half of the table, we need all the help we can get to lure top players here. Once their here they'll love it under Keegan, but it's convincing them this summer that is going t be the hard part. Although Keegan's reputation might not count for as much with the likes of Modric as it did with Lee, Beardsley, Ginola etc (who could remember him as a player), he's still got to be part of the negotiations surely?

 

good post

 

with this case i don't think it's much to do with the negotiating team failing to sell the place to Modric and Spurs doing a better job at that. From what the lad who lives in croatia on here says, and media reports corroborate, is that the Mamic brothers represent both modric and the club, and that the player himself doesn't have much input into which place he'd prefer. that means it essentially comes down to money, how much those two can cream off from signing-on fees and wages, and how much they can earn for the club through the fee. either spurs offered to pay more or they offered to pay in a way which best fulfilled the Mamic bros desires. we might've been up for spending just as much but perhaps less up front or less in wages.

 

I just hope the next target on Keegan's list, like Modric, is willing to join us and that we don't faff around.

 

Aye, fair enough. You're right about faffing about though - it seems that this year there's going to be a canny bit of buying and sellign going on, with a lot of clubs seemingly awash with cash (even the mackems it seems!) so we're going to have to be on the ball to try and get Keegan a first team he can really push on with next year.

[Guest float one in]

f****** hell, some people on here are absolutely obsessed. He chose Spurs over us, move on. There is no need to analyse every quote that comes up.

 

Fair shout if that was aimed at me. I got carried away with one quote there. I'll put it down to still being disappointed at what seems to have happened with Modric.

[Baggio]

All I've heard is that Spurs have paid £15.8m (€20m), I think the journo doesn't know his €'s from his £'s!  Anyway, it'll be reported to the Stock Exchange tomorrow so we'll all know for certain.

 

Didn't Spurs report Jenas' fee to the stock exchange without mentioning add ons yet when Newcastle reported it at our end it said there were add ons for appearances and European football?

[Martin Lol]

Slaven Bilic has changed his tune from a day or two ago:  

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7369852.stm

 

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic says Luka Modric made the right choice in deciding to join Tottenham, rather than any other Premier League side.

 

The 22-year-old midfielder will join Spurs next season after they agreed terms with Dinamo Zagreb.

 

"Tottenham is a perfect club for Luka. Spurs are a better club for Luka than, for example, Chelsea," said Bilic.

 

"Chelsea could have bought him, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho and then Luka could have ended up on the bench."

 

Modric had been linked to several other Premier League clubs - including Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - but Bilic said Spurs boss Juande Ramos would get the best from the highly rated star.

 

"At Tottenham it will be different. Ramos will have patience with him so he gets used to the Premier League style of play," said Bilic.

 

"I'm certain that Luka will become their main power, the star of the team."

 

Modric, who has scored three goals in 24 appearances for Croatia, said Ramos had been a major factor in his decision.

 

"It is a big thing that Ramos wanted me in Tottenham so much," Modric said.

 

"Ramos's desire was my major motivation to play at White Hart Lane."

 

Assuming it was a straight fight between us and Spurs, can we take it from this that Ramos tried harder than our lot (Mort, Wise et al)?

 

Modric has only confirmed what I was told and posted back on page 47 ................. immediate European competition and a coach/manager with a higher profile across Europe were his reasons for opting for Spurs.  It wasn't a case of Ramos tried harder than Mort, Wise etc, Ramos didn't do any of the negotiating, Comolli did.  It wasn't the pull of the London lights either, just very simply Spurs, in the Uefa Cup and with Ramos at the helm, were the better option for the boxes that Modric wanted ticked.

[Martin Lol]

All I've heard is that Spurs have paid £15.8m (20m), I think the journo doesn't know his 's from his £'s!  Anyway, it'll be reported to the Stock Exchange tomorrow so we'll all know for certain.

 

Didn't Spurs report Jenas' fee to the stock exchange without mentioning add ons yet when Newcastle reported it at our end it said there were add ons for appearances and European football?

 

True, but when I queried that with my sister in law she replied to the effect that how Newcastle report to the Stock Exchange is up to them, the fee is £7m and nothing extra will be paid.  The details should have been identical but they weren't, I've no idea which was correct.  I've no reason to doubt my s-i-l but I can't think of any good reason why Fat Fred would say there are add-ons if there weren't.

[johnnypd]

All I've heard is that Spurs have paid £15.8m (€20m), I think the journo doesn't know his €'s from his £'s!  Anyway, it'll be reported to the Stock Exchange tomorrow so we'll all know for certain.

 

Didn't Spurs report Jenas' fee to the stock exchange without mentioning add ons yet when Newcastle reported it at our end it said there were add ons for appearances and European football?

 

True, but when I queried that with my sister in law she replied to the effect that how Newcastle report to the Stock Exchange is up to them, the fee is £7m and nothing extra will be paid.  The details should have been identical but they weren't, I've no idea which was correct.  I've no reason to doubt my s-i-l but I can't think of any good reason why Fat Fred would say there are add-ons if there weren't.

 

i think i'll go with the stock exchange announcement over what your sister says, no offence.

[Cajun]

Surely you can't just make up whatever you want, what would be the point in having to report it?

[Skeletor]

All I've heard is that Spurs have paid £15.8m (20m), I think the journo doesn't know his 's from his £'s!  Anyway, it'll be reported to the Stock Exchange tomorrow so we'll all know for certain.

 

Didn't Spurs report Jenas' fee to the stock exchange without mentioning add ons yet when Newcastle reported it at our end it said there were add ons for appearances and European football?

 

True, but when I queried that with my sister in law she replied to the effect that how Newcastle report to the Stock Exchange is up to them, the fee is £7m and nothing extra will be paid.  The details should have been identical but they weren't, I've no idea which was correct.  I've no reason to doubt my s-i-l but I can't think of any good reason why Fat Fred would say there are add-ons if there weren't.

 

i think i'll go with the stock exchange announcement over what your sister says, no offence.

 

[madras]

I doubt that's true. Tbh, if I were a top player, with no connection to Newcastle, the club would have to do some selling to get me to come here rather than London.

opposite way for me....................absolutly hate the place.

[Cajun]

I prefer Newcastle and I don't think I have any reason to be biased towards the city.

[Guest icemanblue]

Slaven Bilic has changed his tune from a day or two ago:  

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7369852.stm

 

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic says Luka Modric made the right choice in deciding to join Tottenham, rather than any other Premier League side.

 

The 22-year-old midfielder will join Spurs next season after they agreed terms with Dinamo Zagreb.

 

"Tottenham is a perfect club for Luka. Spurs are a better club for Luka than, for example, Chelsea," said Bilic.

 

"Chelsea could have bought him, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho and then Luka could have ended up on the bench."

 

Modric had been linked to several other Premier League clubs - including Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - but Bilic said Spurs boss Juande Ramos would get the best from the highly rated star.

 

"At Tottenham it will be different. Ramos will have patience with him so he gets used to the Premier League style of play," said Bilic.

 

"I'm certain that Luka will become their main power, the star of the team."

 

Modric, who has scored three goals in 24 appearances for Croatia, said Ramos had been a major factor in his decision.

 

"It is a big thing that Ramos wanted me in Tottenham so much," Modric said.

 

"Ramos's desire was my major motivation to play at White Hart Lane."

 

Assuming it was a straight fight between us and Spurs, can we take it from this that Ramos tried harder than our lot (Mort, Wise et al)?

 

Modric has only confirmed what I was told and posted back on page 47 ................. immediate European competition and a coach/manager with a higher profile across Europe were his reasons for opting for Spurs.  It wasn't a case of Ramos tried harder than Mort, Wise etc, Ramos didn't do any of the negotiating, Comolli did.  It wasn't the pull of the London lights either, just very simply Spurs, in the Uefa Cup and with Ramos at the helm, were the better option for the boxes that Modric wanted ticked.

 

Sorry, but that's a load of rubbish.  Something dodgy happened with this deal because up until Friday night Modric was intent on coming to Newcastle. Keegan isn't happy at all (can't believe the NOTW got this right!) as it was as good as a done deal.

[Dave]

Wow, this thread has really turned to shit. We wanted a player, he went somewhere else that right now is a better proposition. Why all the fucking whinging?

 

Ridiculous nit-picking.

[PM]

Why all the fucking whinging?

 

Because it's Spurs probably.

[Baggio]

Should be locked anyway IMO.

[Dokko]

Should be deleted anyway IMO.

 

fyp

[Guest elpapi]

Slaven Bilic has changed his tune from a day or two ago:  

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7369852.stm

 

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic says Luka Modric made the right choice in deciding to join Tottenham, rather than any other Premier League side.

 

The 22-year-old midfielder will join Spurs next season after they agreed terms with Dinamo Zagreb.

 

"Tottenham is a perfect club for Luka. Spurs are a better club for Luka than, for example, Chelsea," said Bilic.

 

"Chelsea could have bought him, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho and then Luka could have ended up on the bench."

 

Modric had been linked to several other Premier League clubs - including Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - but Bilic said Spurs boss Juande Ramos would get the best from the highly rated star.

 

"At Tottenham it will be different. Ramos will have patience with him so he gets used to the Premier League style of play," said Bilic.

 

"I'm certain that Luka will become their main power, the star of the team."

 

Modric, who has scored three goals in 24 appearances for Croatia, said Ramos had been a major factor in his decision.

 

"It is a big thing that Ramos wanted me in Tottenham so much," Modric said.

 

"Ramos's desire was my major motivation to play at White Hart Lane."

 

Assuming it was a straight fight between us and Spurs, can we take it from this that Ramos tried harder than our lot (Mort, Wise et al)?

 

Modric has only confirmed what I was told and posted back on page 47 ................. immediate European competition and a coach/manager with a higher profile across Europe were his reasons for opting for Spurs.  It wasn't a case of Ramos tried harder than Mort, Wise etc, Ramos didn't do any of the negotiating, Comolli did.  It wasn't the pull of the London lights either, just very simply Spurs, in the Uefa Cup and with Ramos at the helm, were the better option for the boxes that Modric wanted ticked.

 

Sorry, but that's a load of rubbish.  Something dodgy happened with this deal because up until Friday night Modric was intent on coming to Newcastle. Keegan isn't happy at all (can't believe the NOTW got this right!) as it was as good as a done deal.

 

Something dodgy? Like Mamic brothers telling of our bid to Spurs and Spurs consequently upping it... It's not rocket science. Modric would have played for the toon if we offered more, it seems like his agents/club owners decided where he would go. fair enough, but the guy doesn't seem to have the biggest of personality if so... what happpend to player power? Not so in Croatia then...

[STM]

Couldn't give a fuck TBH. There is going to be some massive signings at SJP this summer, just not Modric.

 

We will move onto our next target with even more motivation to get a deal struck.

[Guest Rob X]

If Ashley feels he's had one put over on him it may be to our advantage.

 

You don't get to be a billionaire by bending over for the soap more than once.

[STM]

If Ashley feels he's had one put over on him it may be to our advantage.

 

You don't get to be a billionaire by bending over for the soap more than once.

 

Depends how much you charge.

[stozo]

Love how everybody believes Modric wanted to come here because the Sunday Sun's "Croatian Sources" said so.

[Guest Rob X]

If Ashley feels he's had one put over on him it may be to our advantage.

 

You don't get to be a billionaire by bending over for the soap more than once.

 

Depends how much you charge.

I said a billionaire not just well off.

[Skeletor]

Spurs should be deleted IMO.

 

fyp

 

Fixed ftw .