Luka Modric has been Tottenham Hotspur’s best player this season. That’s a statement that many Tottenham fans will agree with, and even those that feel Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart or even Aaron Lennon have performed better, they will still acknowledge the influence that the Croatian midfielder has had on the Spurs side this season. He is at the very heart of Tottenham’s team and he makes Harry Redknapp’s side tick, creating many of the chances in front of goal and at the very least being heavily involved in the moves at one point or another. He is a player that Redknapp is building a team around and that is why he simply cannot be sold.

As always at this time of year, newspapers are short of rumours and with Paul Scholes coming towards the end of his Manchester United career, it seems to be ‘who’ll be Scholes’ replacement?’ season. Luka Modric is just one of those players linked with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side and it isn’t hard to see why given the Croatian’s performances this season. £35 million has been quoted for a player that Tottenham paid £16.6 million for almost three years ago and while that may represent a profit in excess of 100 per cent, it definitely wouldn’t represent good business for Spurs.

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The exploits of Tottenham over the past 18 months means that the north London club are no longer the ones losing players to ‘better’ teams, in say the way that Dimitar Berbatov was sold to Man United in the summer of 2008. Instead, Spurs are now the team in the position to buy other teams’ big players, in the knowledge that they can offer them Champions League football (if they finish in the top four again this season) and the opportunity to be part of a squad that has more than enough quality to win trophies.

So in many ways it is no surprise that Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has quashed any chance of Modric moving on in the summer, even for a hypothetical fee in the region of £100 million. Redknapp told Radio 5 that "If we want to build a club and compete to get in the Champions League every year we have to keep our best players. He's such a fantastic player for us. You can't replace people like him." The same could be said about Gareth Bale, although I would argue that he’s not as essential to the Spurs set-up as the Croatian playmaker.

While Tottenham are showing they’re a club to be reckoned with on the pitch, you only had to watch their impressive victory at the San Siro against AC Milan in the Champions League to see that, they also have to act like a big club off it. That means keeping hold of their best players and bringing in footballers of a similar quality to van der Vaart each and every season. Their players don’t come any better than Luka Modric in my opinion, so if Tottenham want to prove that they’re the real deal they need to keep hold him at all costs. The signs look promising for Spurs…

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