Tottenham Transfer News: Madrid Reportedly Have Final Bid for Modric Rejected

The transfer saga surrounding Luka Modric has reportedly taken another big twist.

Real Madrid has been pursuing the Tottenham midfielder for most of the summer, but has refused to pay Spurs' asking price of £40 million.

According to ESPN, Real Madrid made what they deemed to be their final bid for Modric, offering the north London club €30 million.

As the offer is over 40 percent less than Tottenham's asking price, the club and chairman Daniel Levy apparently rejected the claim, leading Madrid to say that Spurs are now "stuck with" their Croatian.

Modric is a fantastic player, so being "stuck with" him does not look so bad on paper.

However, the playmaker has made it abundantly clear that he does not want to stay at White Hart Lane and has even started to make himself a nuisance. A few weeks ago, Modric went AWOL from training and did not show up to the club's flight to the United States, forcing Spurs to fine him.

Meanwhile, Tottenham's new manager, Andre Villas-Boas, has ripped into Modric for his tactics, a potentially important point given his inability to deal with such diva attitudes at his last job with Chelsea.

For these and other reasons, it is understandable for one to think that Spurs might be better off without Modric.

Now, there is a good chance Madrid are using this ultimatum bid tactically. After all, such a move is a proven negotiation tool to push down the price of any commodity.

However, the move calls into question where the bargaining power truly lies in this narrative.

Yes, Tottenham has the the power to reject any and every offer for Modric, but just how wise would it be to hold on to the midfielder?

After all, if Spurs do keep Modric, he continues to act unprofessionally, refuses to play and AVB lets him rot on the bench, then his price tag decreases quickly. With so much money at stake, this is unacceptable.

Hence, unless they can come to some understanding with Modric, Tottenham can ill-afford to let the midfielder stay.

Thus, this race may have become a big game of chicken: Tottenham will wait and hope for Madrid to make a bigger offer while Madrid will wait and hope for Spurs to negotiate their price.

How this situation unfolds will tell us two things.

First, just how much of a buyer's market is the world of football at this point?

Second, just how stubborn and committed to gaining respect is Spurs chairman Daniel Levy?

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