Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp watches during the English Premier League match against Manchester United at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, on Monday. (AFP)
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp insisted unhappy Croatian midfielder Luka Modric will not be allowed to leave for Chelsea and has revealed he will be offered a new contract once the transfer deadline has passed.
Redknapp was speaking in the aftermath of a 3-0 drubbing by champions Manchester United on Monday in what was Spurs’s first match of the Premier League campaign.
Modric has been the subject of interest from Chelsea throughout the summer and has publicly admitted that he wants to move to Stamford Bridge.
Modric met with chairman Daniel Levy in July and the Tottenham official has defiantly insisted that the midfielder is going nowhere
There have been reports that Chelsea have made a £30 million bid for the midfielder and he was left out of the squad for the defeat at Manchester United.
Redknapp claimed that Modric was not mentally fit to play but maintains he will be at White Hart Lane after the transfer deadline and will then be offered a new deal.
“The chairman has said he will look at his contract in a month or two and he’s told me he will do that,” said Redknapp.
“We want to keep him. The chairman has made a statement and said he’s not going and it will be very difficult for him to go back on that.
“It’s been a problem but hopefully it will get resolved and he will just stay and we can move on. We want to keep him here and add one or two players to him.
“I’m sure he’ll stay. The chairman has made his mind up that he’s not going to sell him and there’s no point selling him late in the window because it’s hard to get replacements and that won’t help anyone.
“He’s got confused by it all because I wouldn’t think he’s never caused anyone a problem in his life before.
“Some players can handle it and say they’re going or they’ll cause havoc. I know players that have done it.
“But he wouldn’t cause anyone a problem and I just think he’s got confused by it all.
“Let’s be truthful, he wanted to go. He’s had an offer, someone has made him an offer and he knows what he could earn elsewhere and sees it as an opportunity to move.
“He’s not been in the right frame of mind but we can’t go on like that, we’ve got to get him playing.”
Tottenham’s start of the season was delayed after their home game against Everton was postponed due to the London riots, though, they did have a game under their belts having destroyed Hearts 5-0 in the Europa League last Thursday.
And they went down to second-half goals from Danny Welbeck, Anderson and Wayne Rooney as United continued their perfect start to the season.
Sir Alex Ferguson fielded the second-youngest United side in Premier League history with an average age of just over 23.
And he believes his faith in his youthful squad has already been vindicated, as well as tipping Welbeck to have a big future.
“We still believe in young players, I think the fans appreciate that, the club is about that and more so when you see the ability they have got, we’ve always had confidence to play young players but this group have got fantastic ability.
“He’s always had great ability, Danny, he’s made slow progress, because when he was growing he had a problem with his knee growth and it was always a situation where we would have to wait for him.
“When we put him on loan to Sunderland that’s where he became a man, he grew up. He’s still only 20 years of age and he’s got a great future, the lad.
“He’s a big rangy, long-legged boy who can gallop really quickly, once he gets his legs going he’s quick.
“He’s a good footballer, he’s got a great attitude when he loses the ball, tremendous attitude to win it back.”
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