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When Luka Modrić claimed Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy broke a "gentleman's agreement" of bowing down to transfer bids from bigger clubs like Chelsea, you had to roll your eyes at Luka's naivety.

A year earlier, Modrić extended his contract to 2016, stating (via BBC Sport):

Tottenham Hotspur gave me my chance in the Premier League and I want to go on to achieve great success here with them. Last season's top four finish was an indication of where we are as a club and I feel I can continue to improve and go on to achieve everything I want to at Spurs. Yes, there have been enquiries from other big clubs, but I have no interest in going anywhere.

Luka wanted to be portrayed in a sympathetic light by painting Levy as a conniving figure devoid of any morals.

Didn't Modrić know that was the job description of the man making the big calls at a club worth £352 million?

If Luka was right about this supposed "gentleman's agreement" with Levy, then the Croatian conned Spurs fans into thinking he was there for the long-run.

The primary objective of Modrić's outburst was to compensate the power he gave away to Levy on May 30, 2010.

The contract extension meant the Croatian had little to no say in his final destination.

In a way, it was like the situation Robinho was in at Real Madrid.

He begged, pleaded, yelled and even cried (something he denies) for a move away from Los Blancos.

Then-Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón disingenuously suggested a scenario where the Brazilian bought out his own contract—only €150 million.

Chelsea were in pole position to sign Robinho, an issue Calderón took exception to, due to the Blues being legitimate UEFA Champions League contenders.

When Chelsea started selling Robinho shirts before the deal had even been finalised, Ramón being Ramón, flipped the Blues off and sold Pelé's heir apparent to UEFA Cup competing Manchester City.

Even though Robinho's preference was to play at Stamford Bridge under compatriot Luiz Felipe Scolari, the forward reluctantly moved to City because he didn't want to stay at Madrid.

He didn't even play out two seasons at Eastlands.



Back to Luka.

He didn't care that Arjen Robben, Dejan Petković, Émerson, Flávio Conceição, Júlio Baptista, Rafael van der Vaart, Robinho, Wesley Sneijder, Zé Roberto and other world-class talents had failed to live up to expectations at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Nor did Modrić stop and contemplate that he didn't fit what José Mourinho saw in a pivot—big, strong, powerful and robust in the tackle.

Luka's bitter feud with Levy meant the Croatian only considered advice pushing him to sign with the Spanish giants—in his mind, he had no other choice, since Chelsea wasn't an option.

Except, there was another choice. In fact, quite a lucid one—stay with Spurs!

The ultimate irony of him leaving Tottenham was that the move didn't benefit him as much as did to Levy, who extracted €45 million plus a partnership agreement with Real Madrid.