Chelsea are lining up a third bid to bring Tottenham midfield star Luka Modric to Stamford Bridge, the Daily Mail understands.

The Blues are set to offer a fee close to £30 million for the Croatian playmaker who has been courted all summer boss Andre Villas-Boas.

Chief Executive Ron Gourlay, who sanctioned Chelsea’s £27 million approach last month, is set to conclude another offer after the club returned from their two-week tour of Asia.

However Gourlay wasn’t giving anything away when questioned on their transfer plans.

He said: “I don’t like talking about players from other clubs but that’s something we’ll look at during the week and we’ll take it from there.

“We really need to sit down with Andre Villas-Boas and talk this through.”

Modric’s desire to leave White Hart Lane and sign for Chelsea has been well documented this summer although Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has insisted he is going nowhere.

The Croatian was a notable absentee from Tottenham’s 3-2 friendly win against Brighton on Saturday with Redknapp claiming it was due to illness.

Spurs value Modric at the £40 million mark and have already stated they’ll settle for nothing less than that figure and are likely to rebuff the latest approach from Chelsea.