Last updated on .From the section Football

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas says Luka Modric needs to prepare to return to the first team if he is not sold.

Modric, 26, is understood to be a target for Real Madrid but Spurs insist the playmaker will not be sold unless a valuation, believed to be £40m, is met.

"He's training alone. We decided to do that until his mental state is ready to return to the team," said Villas-Boas.

Modric for Spurs last season Appearances: 41

Goals: Six

Assists: Five

Shots: 101

Shots on Goal: 33

"It is important that, in the coming days, he understands he must return to the first team."

He added: "We respect the player's ambition, but he must also respect the club."

Croatia international Modric joined Spurs from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008 for a reported £16m and has four years left on his White Hart Lane contract.

It is the second consecutive summer when Modric's future has been in doubt, with Spurs rejecting the advances of Chelsea last year to sign the player.

Modric was fined two weeks wages in July when he did not turn up for training and he was also absent from the club's pre-season tour to the United States.

He did return to the Spurs training base to prepare for the forthcoming season but has yet to link up with the rest of his team-mates.

"Until we receive a suitable offer for the player, he will not go," said Villa-Boas.

"The contacts we have had with other clubs have not met with what Tottenham wants for the player.

"We respect the size of Madrid and the other interested clubs, but they must respect what we are doing too."