Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is confident that wantaway midfielder Luka Modric will not rock the boat in the long winding transfer saga.
Modric has made it clear that his preference is to leave White Hart Lane this summer with Chelsea his preferred destination.
Chairman Daniel Levy held talks with Modric and his representatives yesterday and made it abruptly clear that the 25-year-old will not be leaving Spurs this summer for any price.
Redknapp however feels that, despite having an unsettled player at the club is distracting, feels Modric will continue to give his all to the club.
“He’s OK. He’s a great lad, a fantastic boy and a great player. I love him as a fella and everything. We will see what happens,” Redknapp told Sky Sports News.
“He’s always been committed to Tottenham. He loves playing here and he’s a great player for us.
“It’s a difficult situation for him and I understand where he’s coming from. We can’t kid ourselves, if someone is going to double or treble your wages, it’s difficult. But he signed a contract here, we love him here and we want him here.
“We don’t want to sell our best players. We are looking to build a team not tear a team to pieces. He’s a massive part of that, we need him here, he’s a special player for us.”
Redknapp added: “He’s going to remain here, but there is no point me saying he’s walked in here today and everything is great, he’s happy and he’s going to stay. The kid is a bit confused at the moment and it’s not been easy for him.
“I’d be telling you lies if I said he’s happy and he doesn’t want to go and play for whoever wants him – I think there are three or four of the top five that want him. But we want to keep him here.
“The chairman wants to keep him, I want to keep him and we need him if we’re going to progress. We need him and, as he said to me this morning, we need to add to him.”
Redknapp now believes the only way to ensure Modric will stay with the club is to sign players of similar ilk to the diminutive playmaker.
However, without the lure of Champions League football, the Spurs manager accepts that this will be no easy task but is confident he can bolster the ranks before the start of the new campaign.
“We had a chat. It’s difficult. We are looking to improve and we need to. It’s no good people talking about Champions League football if we don’t improve the team, we know that. He’s as keen as anybody to do that, but it’s not easy,” Redknapp added.
“We have to make way with one or two going first, we are just a little bit overloaded in one or two areas, but if we can do that we will look to bring one or two in.
“We know what we need and it won’t be for the lack of effort. Daniel always does it, in the end we always spend money here and improve the team and he will do it again this year.”