Why Levy should swallow his pride and sell Modric

Luka Modric has reportedly handed in a transfer request in an attempt to force a move from Spurs

Loyalty in football is dead, it seems.

Just a year ago, Luka Modric signed a new six-year deal with Tottenham, insisting he had "no interest in going anywhere."

A year on though and the Croatian appears desperate to get out of White Hart Lane and away from the club which gave him his big chance in English football.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has so far kept an unwavering stance on Modric, time and again claiming the midfielder will not be sold, whatever the price.

Manager Harry Redknapp has echoed his chairman's sentiments, but Spurs fans know the likelihood of Modric staying this summer are slim. The club simply cannot afford to keep a player who does not want to be there.

Spurs, and Levy, know that better than anybody. Redknapp perhaps owes his job at Spurs to the Dimitar Berbatov saga.

Berbatov sulked until his eventual move to Manchester United

In the summer of 2008, with persistent speculation on Berbatov's situation and rumours he wanted to leave, the club always insisted he would not be sold.

Manager Juande Ramos was left with a player who became an unsettling influence on those who really wanted to be at the club and the Bulgarian started the season on Spurs' bench.

On transfer deadline day, the club admitted defeat and sold Berbatov to Manchester United but the damage had already been done.

Tottenham had lost their first two games in the league - after being tipped to finish in the top four - and Ramos replaced Berbatov with the clearly inferior Roman Pavlyuchenko.

After Berbatov left, Spurs continued their nightmare start by failing to win in their first eight games and Ramos paid for that with his job.

If Tottenham allow Modric's situation to run past the season's start, they run the real risk of something similar happening again.

Modric clearly doesn't want to be there so what is the point in keeping him?

He is clearly an exceptional player, but it is doubtful Redknapp will be able to get the best out of him unless he is happy and committed to the cause.

Levy has dug himself into a hole by telling fans Modric will not be sold.

Chairman Levy is now in a very difficult situation

It will be difficult for him to change his stance now and sell the Croatian - with his reputation among fans on the line - but he needs to do it. He can't make the same mistakes he made with Berbatov.

As for Modric himself, his desire to leave Tottenham is another example of the growing greed in modern football.

Nothing dramatic has changed in the last year since he signed his bumper six-year deal.

His own brain should have told him that finishing in the top four every year was going to be an extremely difficult task so he should have accepted when he signed the contract that he was at White Hart Lane for the long haul.

If he is made to stay, he will only have himself to blame as if he wasn't fully committed to the club he should never have signed a six-year contract.

Of course, Chelsea's very public interest in him will have been unsettling and a move to Stamford Bridge would present a considerable step forward for Modric, but Spurs deserve better loyalty from him.

When he first came to England, many doubted Modric was strong enough for the Premier League but Tottenham - and particularly Redknapp - gave him his chance and he owes them.

Redknapp deserves greater loyalty from Modric

However, his stance seems as unwavering as Levy's and so we have a stalemate.

Levy is quite prepared to play tough with the playmaker and force him to stay, but in truth that would be detrimental to both Tottenham and Modric so the chairman has to swallow his pride and let his prized asset go.

Modric has jetted off to South Africa with the squad for Spurs' pre-season tour, but he clearly does not want to be there and the saga is not doing anyone any good.

Redknapp would be deeply unhappy if Levy was to do a U-turn but a sale would give him the chance to significantly strengthen his squad, bringing in a star striker and a replacement for Modric.

Levy made massive mistakes with a wantaway Berbatov and he knows what the consequences may be if a deeply unhappy Modric was to start the season with Spurs.

He must accept - through gritted teeth - that loyalty in football is dead and move on from this situation.

Redknapp, too, will look at the fate of his predecessor Ramos and worry a similar situation may await him.

It is better Spurs sell Modric now than on deadline day, with little time to find a suitable replacement and the rest of the squad unsettled.

Fans will be unhappy and Levy will be derided by them, while they will struggle to believe anything he says in the future, but he must do what is right for his club. And that is to sell Modric, now.

Levy may say that "big clubs do not sell their best players", but the biggest clubs rarely have situations like this one. The biggest clubs do not have their star players expressing a desire to leave for a club in the same league.

It may be important for Spurs' image as a club with great ambition if they were to keep Modric, but the potential effects him staying may have on the squad should outweigh that.

Levy cannot run the risk of another sulky Eastern European derailing his club's season.