AVB Confirms Deals For Modric Being Negotiated

New Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas gave his first press conference as Tottenham Hotspur manager today - I'll always maintain he looks better in blue than white - and amongst a few innoculous statements about his new job, he discussed the future of Croatian midfielder Luka Modric, who is one of the hot targets for many major European clubs this summer.

"The interest that we have from various different clubs shows... what he's done for Tottenham. Ongoing discussions will continue with these clubs until we reach an agreement which is acceptable for each party."

-Source: BBC Sport

So Andre spends a whole transfer window pining after Modric, and then as soon as he joins the same club as the midfield maestro he wants to leave? Either way, that's good news for Chelsea: Modric is up for grabs, at least if clubs can reach an agreement with the notoriously stingy Daniel Levy. Rumours have it that the Tottenham chairman would prefer Modric move beyond England (understandably so: there's not one side in the Premier League that Modric would not significantly improve), and as a result English sides will have to pay up a bit more than a continental club such as Real Madrid or PSG.

It's unclear whether Chelsea is one of the clubs involved in negotiations at present - the pursuit of Oscar suggests otherwise, but that's not set in stone either. I wouldn't rule out a Modric purchase on the basis we've signed Oscar considering the two are miles apart in their potential impact on the squad. One thing's for sure: if a deal does go through, one of Chelsea's rivals is going to be immediately weaker.

*Villas-Boas also floated the prospect of signing Moutinho during his press conference: considering the Portugese was rumoured to be a big target last summer, at least until Porto showed they wouldn't budge, that could be an interesting transfer to watch.