ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:HARRY REDKNAPP remains on edge over Luka Modric's state of mind and has urged the playmaker to rediscover the form of last term and spark Tottenham Hotspur's season.
Modric scored for Croatia in their midweek victory over Israel and will start today’s match at Wolves alongside the new signings Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor. The 25-year-old Modric had become unsettled by Chelsea’s pursuit and had asked not to be picked against Manchester City in the final fixture before the deadline passed. Yet while he admired the determination of his chairman, Daniel Levy, to keep Modric, the manager was more inclined to accept a bid.
Spurs travel to Molineux bottom of the table with their start to the campaign disrupted by the Modric issue and other players’ desire to leave. “Losing 5-1 to Manchester City in our last match surprised me in terms of the result but I did feel at the time that things were not right here,” Redknapp said. “I could sense it. Too many players wanted to leave and it didn’t create the right atmosphere going into the new season. But most of the lads who wanted to leave got their moves and we kept the one we really wanted to keep.
“The Modric situation made life difficult. If someone doesn’t want to play for your club, you move them on and bring someone in who does want to play for you. I was like: ‘Well, okay, if Luka doesn’t want to be here, take the £40m and we’ll all move on.’ But I love him as a player and, now he is here and it’s all done, I’m delighted. Now he’s got to get on and play.” Modric only returned to Spurs after international duty on Thursday but is fit and available for the game at Wolves.
“Listen, I could sit here and say anything you want me to say, like: ‘Yeah, he is happy here, he is glad he never went to Chelsea and got all that money’,” Redknapp said. “But I’d be talking rubbish. I don’t know how he feels. You’d have to ask him. I felt we needed to keep Luka and add to him, and it will give us a big lift to have Parker and Adebayor.”
Rafael van der Vaart, who has had a hamstring injury, is back in light training, as is Sandro after a knee problem. Redknapp said he had been unaware that the Brazilian had signed a five-year contract at White Hart Lane until seeing confirmation on television on Thursday.
Sandro will compete for a central berth with Parker, who has expressed relief that his €6.4m move from West Ham had been completed to boost his chances of remaining in Fabio Capello’s England setup. “If I’d been playing in the Championship it would have been much more difficult for me to go to the European Championship,” he said.
Tottenham, who have won only three league games since mid-February, may be bolstered by the return of Ledley King to the squad, today, with Redknapp stressing that the England defender needs to feature far more regularly if he is to earn a new contract.
“This is his big season. I can’t ask the chairman to give him another contract if he plays only twice. He has to play 20 games to get another contract.”
Gu ardian Service
