For those unaware, the Spurs Chairman held talks with Luka Modric yesterday about his future with the club. This was after Modric publicly hinted at a possible move to Chelsea. There were two possible ways the meeting could have gone, and Levy showed how it should be done.
He has categorically told Modric that he is not for sale and that he is not going anywhere. That’s the first thing that he did correctly- telling a player that it is the club to decide what happens to players and not the other way around.
The next impressive move was on Sky Sports News last night when he said in an interview that it is not about the money and that they will not sell their best players. That, Mr Lerner, is how it should be done. Clubs with ambition should not sell their best players (let alone two of them in one transfer window).
Now, those that are of the opinion that Mr Downing should be sold because of his lack of commitment should be aware that Modric seemed to be much of the same opinion and it made no difference at all to the Spurs Chairman. He even hinted that Modric was not too happy about it, but rightly said that when he got back into training he would be fine. Any attempted player power has been totally walked over, and rightly so.
Supporters need to cast aside this notion that players that want to move will somehow underperform. If anything, they will have to keep their form up until the next transfer window otherwise nobody will want to buy them (and even if they did the wages would be lower). If Downing genuinely wants to move next summer, I can almost guarantee that he will play his socks off again this season to maximise his value and earnings capability.
It was nice to see a club Chairman with genuine ambition who is clearly able to dismiss any amount of money if it would impede the team’s prospects. Villa fans would undoubtedly love for Randy to take a similar approach.