Liverpool’s activity scuppers Chelsea’s bid for Spurs star

Chelsea have had a reported £22m bid for Tottenham Hotspur’s Luka Modric turned down today as Roman Abramovich makes his first big move in this summer’s transfer market.

Modric has been strongly linked with Manchester United over the past six months but Chelsea entered the equation earlier in the week with news that they were willing to offer Didier Drogba in exchange for Modric.

That speculation seems to have turned into negotiations with Chelsea’s first bid of £22m in cash only turned down, with Drogba not involved in the bid.

The offer has been flat rejected by Harry Redknapp and the Spurs board, and Modric’s agent, Nikky Vukan, believes Chelsea have to increase their bid significantly to land the midfielder.

“Luka is happy at Spurs but if an offer came in that was acceptable to the club and player, we would be willing to discuss it,” said Vukan.

“In my opinion, £22m is a valuation that is too low for the player.”

Agreeing with a football agent could sometimes bruise your integrity, but in this case Vukan is spot on.

Following Liverpool’s £20m move for Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson, it’s easy to see why Spurs would value Modric at a lot more than £22m.

Spurs signed Modric for £16.6m back in 2008 and they have every right to believe the Croatian’s valuation has risen by more than £5.4m in that time.

Modric may not be a goalscoring midfielder but the Croat offers plenty of creativity in a Spurs team that turned over Inter Milan, AC Milan, Werder Bremen, FC Twente and Young Boys in the Champions League this season.

With both Manchester United and Chelsea fighting over Modric, his valuation must be somewhere nearer to £30m, and while I believe that is a ridiculous amount for most players, it stems from clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City and now Liverpool paying over the odds for targets.

So Chelsea have to up their offer and that could mean we see Drogba in a Spurs shirt next season.