Chelsea back in for Modric with Spurs holding key to the summer window

Chelsea have re-entered the Luka Modric transfer saga, with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy holding the key to a series of big money deals which will kick start the new season. 

In spite of having a £40million offer turned down in last summer's transfer window, Roman Abramovich will throw his hat into the ring again for the Croatia midfielder in an 11th hour bid to hijack his move to Real Madrid. 

The summer's major transfer business is inextricably linked with the Modric move.

That includes Robin van Persie's possible move to Manchester City and Tottenham completing the £15m signing of Emmanuel Adebayor, as well as attempting to snatch Portugal midfielder Joao Moutinho from under the noses of Manchester United as Modric's midfield replacement. 

Adebayor's departure from City will free up the club's bid to sign Van Persie after United decided that Arsenal's £30m asking price was poor value for a 29-year-old who will have insignificant sell-on value.

Although Juventus have been strongly linked with the Holland striker, he favours a switch to the Etihad Stadium. Such is Roberto Mancini's desperation not only to defend the Premier League title, but also to satisfy the club's oil-rich owners' desire to win the Champions League, he will regard it as money well spent.

The Gunners' huge price tag for a player with only a season left on his contract is nothing more than a token gesture, especially with the Dutchman clearly determined to leave a club he has criticised for lacking ambition. 

Rather than change his image from hero to villain in the eyes of Arsenal fans, Van Persie has been supported not only by major shareholders such as Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri but also a significant number of the club's rank and file supporters.

There is also concern among a number of his Emirates Stadium team-mates and former stars such as Nigel Winterburn about the direction in which the club are heading. United dipped their toes into the water over signing Van Persie without getting close to making a splash - with Sir Alex Ferguson concentrating instead on strengthening his midfield department. 

The United manager has a number of players, including Moutinho, on a list of possible signings he would like to make before the team depart for pre-season matches in South Africa and the Far East next Monday as he begins his bids to unseat City.

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