• Tottenham anticipate third offer for unsettled
midfielder
• Genk winger Kevin de Bruyne also targeted by Chelsea
Chelsea's Premier League squad of non-homegrown
senior players quota is already full with
its 17...
1 Petr Cech
2 Henrique
Hilario
3 José
Bosingwa
4 Alex
5 Paulo
Ferreira
6 Branislav
Ivanovic
7 David Luiz
8 Yossi
Benayoun
9 Michael
Essien
10 Florent
Malouda
11 John Mikel
Obi
12 Ramires
13 Nicolas
Anelka
14 Didier
Drogba
15 Salomon
Kalou
16 Fernando
Torres
17 Slobodan
Rajkovic
Yuri Zhirkov - Sold
Chelsea
are considering offering
Yossi Benayoun and Salomon Kalou as makeweights in a deal
for Tottenham
Hotspur's
playmaker Luka Modric.
Spurs have already rejected two Chelsea bids for Modric this
summer, worth £22m and £27m, and the chairman, Daniel Levy, has
insisted that the unsettled midfielder, who has expressed a desire
to move to Stamford Bridge, will not be sold at any price. Despite
this, a third bid has been anticipated for some time but with
Chelsea apparently reluctant to offer more than £30m for the
25-year-old, they are now exploring alternative ways of adding
value to any deal.
Chelsea had been resistant to the idea of offering players as
part of any deal for the Croatian, their principal creative
midfield target. That stance is understood to have shifted with the
option of offering the two players in part-exchange, together with
a fee of around £27m, now under discussion.
Chelsea's manager André Villas-Boas is aware that despite
off-loading Yuri Zhirkov to Anzhi Makhachkala this summer, he must
create spaces within his 25-man Premier League squad to be
submitted next month – only 17 of whom can be non-homegrown senior
players – if he is to strengthen the midfield.
The Premier League runners-up are also monitoring Raul
Meireles's availability at Liverpool, though their priority remains
Modric. But it remains to be seen whether Tottenham would be
receptive to the possibility of taking either of the players
potentially on offer. Benayoun has attracted tentative interest
from Roma, Galatasaray and clubs in Russia this close season, and
is the man whose position would be most under threat should Modric
move across the capital.
The Israeli was denied the chance to make an impact in his first
year at Chelsea after suffering a serious achilles injury last
September and despite the 31-year-old impressing in pre-season,
reports emerged in Israel last week that he expects to leave
Stamford Bridge.
Kalou's possible availability would constitute more of a
surprise and the Ivorian started Sunday's draw at Stoke City.
However, Chelsea have a host of forward options with Fernando
Torres, Didier Drogba – a player Tottenham would be keener to sign
– Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka now joined by Romelu Lukaku,
and with Daniel Sturridge having impressed on loan at Bolton last
term and for his own club in pre-season. The England Under-21
striker, who is serving a three-match suspension, is expected to
play a significant role this term.
Tottenham still hope to refresh their own frontline this summer
– they have sold Robbie Keane to LA Galaxy for £3.5m and may yet
move on any of Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe or Roman
Pavlyuchenko – though it would still represent something of a
reversal of policy if Levy was suddenly receptive to a Modric deal
with makeweights thrown in.
Comparisons have been drawn with Spurs' apparently similar
hard-line stance with both Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov,
which mellowed after much wrangling as the transfer deadline
approached in both cases, though the Croatian's case is very
different.
Carrick only had two years to run on his Spurs contract in 2006
and had made it clear he would not sign a new deal at the club.
With Berbatov in 2008, Tottenham feared the Bulgarian might invoke
the Webster ruling and buy out the remainder of his contract the
following summer to force through his own move to Manchester
United, effectively for a knock-down fee. Yet Modric is contracted
until 2016 and has been commended for his professionalism since
arriving at White Hart Lane.
Having secured Lukaku and Thibault Courtois, Chelsea still hope
to secure a third addition from Belgium before the end of the
month, after holding further talks with Genk over their 20-year-old
winger Kevin De Bruyne.
The young forward may be loaned back to his current club for 12
months, if a fee is agreed. "My agent went to Chelsea on Wednesday
and discussions have been good," De Bruyne said. "Maybe, by the end
of the month, a deal can be sorted out because that would be a good
thing for all three-parties. If there is an agreement with Chelsea,
I would certainly spend another year at Genk."
