By Greg Stobart
Tottenham are adamant that they will not be bullied by Luka Modric and are ready to force the playmaker to stay at the club if their valuation is not met this summer.
Modric has refused to take part in Spurs' pre-season tour of the United States and is also boycotting training at the Londoners' Chigwell training base as he attempts to force through a transfer to Real Madrid.
His actions have infuriated the club and made chairman Daniel Levy even more determined to hold out for close to £40 million for the midfielder, who has four years remaining on his contract.
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Some reports have suggested that Modric is now in Croatia and hopes that his unofficial strike will convince Tottenham to sell him for a lesser fee, with Madrid's current offer worth only £31m.
The Spanish giants had previously indicated they were ready to offer £35m for the 26-year-old, who is also a target for Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea but is trying to push through a move to the Bernabeu.
Tottenham have fined Modric two weeks' wages – worth around £80,000 – for missing training and plan further disciplinary action against the playmaker.
Spurs refused to sell Modric to Chelsea last summer – rejecting a £40m bid from the Blues at the end of the transfer window – and sources within the club insist he will not be sold for less than his worth this year.
"Modric clearly didn't learn from last summer and he is a fool to go to war with Daniel Levy again," a Spurs insider told Goal.com. "The club are listening to offers and talking to clubs, but nothing will change the price-tag."
While the former Dinamo Zagreb man is expected to be sold, his actions have only hardened Levy's desire to recoup maximum value, especially with manager Andre Villas-Boas's preferred replacement, Joao Moutinho, currently proving too expensive with Porto maintaining a £30m asking price.
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| 25/1 | Spurs are 25/1 to win the 2012-13 Premier League with bet365 |
Sources in Spain have suggested that Modric has already agreed a four-year contract with Madrid worth £120,000-a-week but Tottenham's stand-off with the La Liga champions is increasingly raising the prospect of a move to PSG.
The French club's Qatari owners have already demonstrated their financial clout this summer with a €65m (£50.5m) double swoop for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva from Milan - although the French club's sporting director Leonardo claimed last week that no more star names would arrive at Parc des Princes before the start of the season.
Modric, who cost Spurs £16.5m in 2008, has his heart set on a switch to Real Madrid but PSG could emerge as his only escape route from White Hart Lane, especially with the north London club unwilling to sell him to a Premier League rival.
