Tottenham have turned down
the prospect of Real Madrid
including Nuri Sahin or Ricardo
Carvalho in any attempted offer
for Luka Modric as the north
Londoners hold out for a straight
cash deal worth of €51
million (£40m).
The Spanish giants are struggling
to meet Spurs' valuation of
Modric and had hoped to pursue
a player-plus-cash move in an
attempt to trim their squad for better.
Sources at White Hart Lane have
denied suggestions that a deal
has already been struck for
Modric to move to the Santiago
Bernabeu, although negotiations
are ongoing, with Real Madrid
believed to have significantly
improved their previous offer of
€39.5m.
Spurs are adamant they will not
be bullied into selling their star
midfielder
, who was fined heavily in July for
refusing to train and failing to
take part in the teams pre-
season tour of the United States.
One factor for the Londoners has
been the difficulty in lining up a
direct replacement for the season
playmaker. Joao Moutinho is the
top target but Porto want €38m
(£30m) for the Portuguese
midfielder, while Spurs coach
Andre Villas-Boas rejected the
idea of a move for Sahin as he
believes the Turk would struggle
to adapt to the pace of the English
Premier League.
Tottenham have not completely
ruled out a future move for
Arsenal target Sahin - perhaps on
a season-long loan - but they
have no interest in Carvalho, who
was omitted from Real Madrid's
own pre-season tour of to
United States.
"Spurs don't want to consider a
player swap as Villas-Boas knows
the players he wants to reinvest
the money in," an insider told
Goal.com reporter. "Carvalho and Sahin
are the two that have been
mentioned but he is not
interested at the moment. He
thinks Sahin could struggle with
the pace of English football and
would rather go all out for
Moutinho."
Madrid's pursuit of Modric has
been further complicated by the
willingness of Paris Saint-
Germain to pay €51m for the
Croatia international, and Spurs
chairman Daniel Levy will not
lower his demands for the player.
The 26-year-old, who cost Spurs
€23m (£16.5m) in 2008, has his
heart set on a switch to Los
Blancos, but PSG could emerge as
his only escape route from White
Hart Lane, especially with the
north London club unwilling to
sell him to a Premier League rival team.
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