Splash the cash for Luka, says Redknapp
Chelsea lodged at least three bids for the player in the close season — the last one a whopping £40m (€45m) offer — but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy refused to sell the star.
Modric himself angered many Spurs fans by declaring he wanted to leave Tottenham and complete a “dream” move to Stamford Bridge.
Modric then declined to play the club’s game at Manchester United and Redknapp claimed the playmaker was being advised to do everything he could to engineer a move to Chelsea.
With the transfer window closed, Modric was forced to stay at Tottenham but has thrived since, playing well at Wolves before scoring a blistering strike in yesterday’s 4-0 win over Liverpool.
Despite his actions against the club, Redknapp thinks Modric’s worth to the team warrants a rise on his current pay packet — reported to be between £40,000 and £50,000 a week.
Redknapp said: “If he is worth £40m then life tells you that you have to be paid accordingly, doesn’t it?
“You can’t say he is worth £40m and want to pay him the wages of someone who is worth £5m. That doesn’t ring true, does it? You have to look after the boy and I’m sure we’ll do that and his future is hopefully here.”
Redknapp takes his side to Stoke tonight for the club’s Carling Cup third round clash at the Britannia Stadium.
He will make wholesale changes to his team, with the likes of Jake Livermore, Giovani dos Santos and Jake Livermore expected to start.
The Spurs boss may also use the match to test the fitness of William Gallas and Sandro, who are fit again after missing the start of the season with calf and knee injuries. Heurelho Gomes will return in goal, but is still likely to leave in January.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has no fresh injury problems and former Spurs man Peter Crouch is set to play.
Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has hailed the impact of revitalised Aston Villa defenders James Collins and Richard Dunne ahead of their clash with Bolton at Villa Park.
Collins and Ireland star Dunne were involved in a public fallout with previous Villa boss Gerard Houllier over an incident with some of the club coaches at a health spa last season.
But Dunne and Collins have been back to their best during Villa’s six-game unbeaten start in all competitions this season — a run which has included three clean sheets.
McLeish said: “These are great players here. People were saying I was probably going to go back to Birmingham and sign Scott Dann and Roger Johnson. But central defence was one position that wasn’t a priority.
“We also have young Ciaran Clark here to back them (Collins and Dunne) up and he looks like he’s going to be a top player also.”
Dunne is quick to acknowledge the difficulties of last season but believes Villa are back to their form of two years ago under O’Neill.
He said: “We didn’t feel what we were doing in training was beneficial to our game. Performances on Saturday reflect what you do during the week.
“But now things have changed again, it’s a more British-style training regime and we’re going into games with fight inside us. We’re back to where we were a couple of years ago. We’re unbeaten and hard to beat at the moment and would like a good cup run.”
Meanwhile Blackburn host Leyton Orient, Wolves play Millwall and Crystal Palace face Middlesbrough, while Newcastle meet Nottingham Forest.
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