Tottenham: Is Return of Luka Modric in Deal for Gareth Bale Good Business?

The big transfer saga of the summer is revolving around Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid and Gareth Bale, and latest reports indicate that the English club want one of its old men back.

Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror reports Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is now willing to discuss a sale of attacking midfielder Bale, but only if Real pay a massive world-record fee in cash, as well as giving Spurs back Luka Modric, who they sold to the Spanish club a year ago.

It looks like it would be one of the biggest ever transfers—however it pans out—but would the return of Modric be a good thing for Spurs?

Luka's Role

While Croatian midfielder Modric was initially used at Spurs as an advanced player in behind the forward line, as he gradually adapted to the English game, he also became more capable of playing directly in the midfield.

After a stint out on the left, where he was at times marginalised in play, Modric became very much a central figure for Spurs, forging a partnership initially with Tom Huddlestone in the middle of the park.

At Real Madrid this past season he has been used in both roles, centrally in a more withdrawn position and also in an advanced area of the pitch in the line of attacking midfielders. Modric is more than capable of playing both roles, giving the manager tactical options to switch mid-game, and has the technique and the creativity to be effective in attack from both positions.

Spurs' Options

Having splashed out to sign Paulinho this summer following his excellent Confederations Cup performance, Spurs now boast a massively impressive midfield trio of Moussa Dembele and Sandro as well as the new arrival.

With that troika of players at Andre Villas-Boas' disposal, it seems likely that Spurs will revert to a 4-3-3, negating the need for a real No. 10, unless one of those three is constantly left on the bench in rotation. With Gareth Bale himself having operated in the attacking midfield role late last term, if he does indeed depart, it may be that the Portuguese boss dispenses with using a No. 10-style player anyway.

Huddlestone remains a Spurs player, as do Scott Parker, Jake Livermore and Tom Carroll, all of whom would prefer to feature regularly in the centre of midfield. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Lewis Holtby are additional options.

All in all, Spurs certainly don't need to add any further depth to their squad, but Modric joining would give them four genuinely top-class midfielders to choose from, even before considering who would be their squad options.

If Villas-Boas goes with a 4-3-3, having Modric, Sandro, Dembele and Paulinho to choose from would be a massive upgrade on Spurs' midfield over the past few campaigns.

Suiting All Parties?

Real Madrid appear hell-bent on signing Bale, even if it means another world-record fee and signing a player for arguably two or three times his worth. Bale is the standout signing of the summer if they pull it off, and he'll be expected to play all the time—and deliver.

Modric in that instance might be deemed surplus to requirements and made available following the arrivals of Spanish youngsters Isco and Illarra.

But what of the player himself?

Modric pushed for a move away from Tottenham once he knew Real were interested, and at times it seemed rather unseemly, watching club and player separate. Will he now want to go back to his former club as a bit-part exchange in a much bigger deal?

Comfort and fan relations may say yes, but ego and professional pride could overrule that.

Modric may still want to prove himself at Madrid—or believe that another Champions League side would want him instead.

While the player's view on the move is unknown at present, Spurs can be sure that if they somehow pull off the gigantic sale of Bale for what would be around a total package of £100 million, they will be getting back a prized asset who could shine once more in a Tottenham shirt.

And if he doesn't hit the heights of his first spell at the club, they still have a very saleable asset who plenty of teams will opt to sign in a year's time.

Villas-Boas might be about to lose his star name, but he could get arguably the Premier League's strongest midfield in return—plus an absolute fortune to strengthen with.

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