Filed under: Bolton, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Champions League, Europa League (UEFA), Premier League, Football, Transfer News
Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, was very quick to make it very clear he refused to sell Luka Modric when Chelsea first made their move for the Croatia play-maker. But £27 million plus Yossi Benayoun as an instant replacement, which now appears to be an offer on the table, must certainly seem tempting.Tottenham's resolve is set to be well and truly tested therefore and Harry Redknapp's views on the prospect of Israel international Benayoun moving across London will be interesting to hear before Thursday's Europa League date at Hearts, which is unlikely to feature Modric, who is injured and desperate to leave. Two words managers like the least in fact.
Certainly the deal, if it can be completed, would suit Chelsea and Benayoun too. The former Liverpool man's time at Stamford Bridge has been blighted by injury and, according to The Sun, he is open to the move.
He is not the first to be named as a potential makeweight in Chelsea's attempts to prise Modric away from his current employers as Didier Drogba knew a long time ago that the Andre Villas-Boas era was destined to start with him on the bench and Fernando Torres on the pitch, as indeed came to pass at Stoke on Sunday, where John Obi Mikel played the entire 90 minutes in the knowledge his father had been abducted back home in Nigeria.
Another man who came on as a second half substitute at the Britannia Stadium was Nicholas Anelka and now his future at Stamford Bridge is under a cloud. Not that it wasn't anyway - at 32, one year younger than Drogba, he began the campaign with just a year left on his contract.
Now, according to the Daily Mirror, the France forward has decided he doesn't fancy nine months of sitting on the bench having indicated just a few weeks ago that he intended to honour the rest of his contract come what may.
Villas-Boas, the Mirror's Darren Lewis reports, has been made aware of Anelka's desire to leave, which has so far stopped short of the formal transfer request that players leave until the last resort as it would cost them millions in so called 'loyalty bonuses'.
Anelka will be confident he has enough in the tank to be a useful performer in one of the top leagues in Europe for one of its top teams (and let's not forget he was willing to play for Bolton not so long ago) so a Stamford Bridge exit seems entirely logical especially as Daniel Sturridge has probably overtaken him in the pecking order as well (ironically after a loan spell at Bolton, where he proved his worth as well as picking up a suspension that has kept him sidelined so far).
Could he tempt Redknapp therefore? Harry likes to accumulate strikers and has just, at long last, been able to jettison Robbie Keane to LA Galaxy. And he also has a track record of getting the best out of players with a 'difficult' reputation, which Anelka most certainly is.
Get them to chuck in Drogba or Anelka as well as Benayoun and you've got a deal, the manager could well be saying to his chairman sometime soon therefore.
Chelsea have yet to flex their considerable financial muscles this summer, mainly because of Levy's stonewall stance, and could also turn to Raul Meireles to pep up a midfield the new manager already fears is a little too pedestrian to challenge Manchester United.
According to the Daily Mail, Liverpool would be willing to offload the midfielder to help balance to books after a busy summer of recruitment and the 28-year-old would cost around £12 million. The transfer window closes in two weeks and a day and it would be a surprise if Chelsea did not make some significant headlines between now and then.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/08/16/chelsea-still-want-luka-modric-so-who-wants-to-be-a-spurs-swap/
Iker Casillas Ivan Ljubicic Jamie Carragher Jason Day Javier Mascherano
No comments:
Post a Comment