Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has insisted that star performer Luka Modric will not be sold over the summer.
The 25-year-old has been attracting from Manchester United and Manchester City recently after a series of fine performances in the Tottenham midfield.
However, it was rivals Chelsea who have made the first move with a £22m bid on Thursday morning, a bid that was flat out rejected.
Now Levy has moved to quash speculation that Modric will be sold after the Croatian expressed his desire to leave White Hart Lane and joined the West London club.
“I wish to make it absolutely clear, as I have said previously, that none of our key players will be sold this summer,” Levy told the club’s official website.
“We are building a team for the future to consistently play at the highest level and retaining quality players is crucial to that.
“In respect of Luka Modric, we are not prepared to sell, at any price, to Chelsea Football Club or any other club.
“We made our stance on this issue abundantly clear in writing to Chelsea.They chose to ignore it and then subsequently made the offer public.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, let me reiterate that we shall not enter into any negotiations whatsoever, with any club, regarding Luka.
“We now consider this matter closed.”
Chelsea, however, are unlikely to be deterred by Levy’s stance and are expected to up their bid over the coming week