Gabriele Marcotti: Modric in middle of game of chicken

Over the weekend, Harry Redknapp reportedly announced that Luka Modric was promised that he could leave Tottenham this summer. "The chairman [Daniel Levy] said to him last year 'Give us one more season and if Real come in I won't stand in your way,'" he said. Redknapp, of course, was Tottenham manager until June, when he was let go. And last summer he was the one dealing with a protracted Modric saga. Chelsea had made several bids, reportedly as high as $30 million, all of which Tottenham turned down, and Modric was unhappy at not being allowed to leave. So much so, in fact, that he sat out Spurs' first game of the season, against Manchester United, with Redknapp saying at the time that "his head's not in the right place." His head may or may not have been "in the right place" nine days later, but by that stage it was a moot point: The transfer window had closed and Modric was going nowhere.