5 Players Tottenham Hotspur Could Buy with Luka Modric's Transfer Fee

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For more than a month now, we've known that Luka Modric has no intention of remaining with Tottenham for another season. The only two questions that remain is where he will go, and how much money Tottenham will get for him.

ESPN has reported that Modric will leave Spurs for no less than £40 million, but such a figure for a soon-to-be 27-year-old midfielder who doesn't rack up assists or goals seems a bit ridiculous. Modric is good, but even £30 million would be an excessive fee for his services.

Nevertheless, for the sake of this article, we'll go ahead and assume that some cash-rich club like Real Madrid are willing to dish out £30 million for Modric's services. That seems likely to be the agreed amount, especially with Modric going AWOL recently, to express his frustration with transfer negotiations.

If we here at B/R ran the club, here are the players we'd invest that money in.

1. Joao Moutinho

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Since Porto told Tottenham that Moutinho would not be allowed to leave for less than his £31.5 million, there's not really been any progress on the transfer front for Spurs with Porto.

Andre Villas-Boas and Tottenham continue to try to build up the link between AVB and Moutinho, painting it to be the "perfect reunion," but so far Porto seem unwilling to budge.

Ultimately, if Porto's valuation of Moutinho stays as high as it is presently, there's no chance of him moving to Tottenham. £20 million is just about the maximum amount that Spurs would be willing to invest in any one player, let alone a midfielder.

We likely won't know much more about this saga until Modric is sold, in which case, transfer negotiations for Moutinho will seriously heat up. Still, either way, Moutinho should be, and probably is, Spurs' primary target this summer.

2. Leandro Damiao

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The classic.

Tottenham have wanted Damiao since last summer, and who knows how many bids for the Brazilian striker have been rejected to this point.

Again, price is the issue here. Last summer, age was the issue, as Internacional wanted to hold onto their man for another season to benefit from his services and see his price continue to grow, but now, it's all about the money.

£25 million appears (according to the Daily Mail) to be the current asking price, and if I had to guess, that's probably £10 million more than Tottenham would like to spend on the striker.

Make no mistake, I'd love to see Damiao signed, hence why I have him so high on the list. I'm sure Tottenham would love to have him too. But as long as that price stays that high, there's no way he's coming to White Hart Lane.

And don't get me started on how ridiculous it is that Hulk is now being linked with Tottenham...

3. Emmanuel Adebayor

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About a week ago, we were told that Adebayor was a signed Spurs player (according to the Daily Mail).

However, we soon found out that such reports were wide of the mark as Adebayor is reportedly (according to The Independent) holding out for a better contract.

Honestly, this one's all on Adebayor. For Spurs, the transfer is a no-brainer if Adebayor agrees to it. Most Spurs will agree that Adebayor is not their ideal choice to lead the attack at Tottenham, but for just £5-6 million, he's a solid option.

However, if Adebayor thinks that Spurs can afford to match or even come close to his £175,000 per-week wages at Manchester City, he must be out of his mind.

Heck, the £115,000 per-week wages that were reported in the Daily Mirror article roughly a week ago are sure to cause Tottenham some financial struggles themselves.

City appear on board (according to Goal.com), and so are Spurs; now Adebayor must choose between no playing time and a massive paycheck, or regular playing time and a still-very-appealing paycheck. The choice seems obvious, but Adebayor's done plenty of stupid moves before...

4. Santi Cazorla

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Santi Cazorla may have played just 16 minutes for Spain at Euro 2012, but don't let that fool you. Cazorla is undoubtedly one of the most talented players in the world, and a huge reason why Malaga have a chance at making the Champions League group stage next season.

However, as explained in this excellent B/R article by Trent Scott, financial problems may force Malaga to sell a couple of their top players, namely Jose Rondon and Cazorla.

I'm not here to talk about Rondon; in my opinion, Malaga have invested too much in him to let him go now, and he's not really shown enough ability this previous season for me to advocate Tottenham pursuing him strongly this summer.

Cazorla is a different story. He's only been at Malaga for a season, and may have angered Malaga's management with his complaint about the club not paying him his wages.

I'll be the first to admit that a transfer isn't likely. However, with Malaga also reportedly (according to TalkSport.co.uk) interested in Giovani Dos Santos, who knows what can happen?

5. M'baye Niang

We need to be realistic when looking at what Tottenham are capable of doing in the transfer market over the next month or so. They've already brought in Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen; it's not likely that Tottenham will splash anymore cash that isn't generated from a transfer or sale.

As such, that places the cap on spending after Modric's sale at roughly £30 million, and with Cazorla, Damiao and Moutinho all expected to cost at least £20 million, there's not going to be much more money left over for Spurs to invest.

That's why it'd be wise for Spurs to go after a cheap, still developing target, like M'baye Niang. Accordingly, Spurs have invited him to trial with them (according to the Daily Mail) amidst interest from Arsenal and Manchester City.

I'm not sure I'm a big fan of acquiring another striker, knowing how loaded Spurs' youth teams are with good young strikers (Harry Kane anyone?). Still, I don't think Spurs would mind the overload if it means stealing one of Arsenal's big targets this summer.

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