Spurs chief Daniel Levy demanded money off Modric transfer in 2008 – after Dinamo Zagreb director asked for five Tottenham shirts

DANIEL LEVY has long been regarded as a driver of a hard bargain.

And he lived up to his reputation with a brilliant story about the Spurs chief’s transfer negotiations when he signed Luka Modric.

The midfielder, now 34, moved to White Hart Lane from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer of 2008 for around £16.5million.

But the Croatian side made one cheeky request: for five Spurs Modric shirts. Levy granted the request – but made Zagreb pay.

Speaking to FourFourTwo, then executive director Zdravko Mamic said: “Levy is, in my opinion, the most capable negotiator in the world. I had enough time to experience it and appreciate him.

“One funny story, but at the same time a story that shows how he protects the interests of his club, is that after we agreed the transfer of Luka to Tottenham, I politely asked for five of Luka’s jerseys.

“Levy gave them to me, but the invoice for the transfer, €23m, was minus the value of the jerseys.

“That was quite unbelievable to me. It showed me how to appreciate every penny a club spends.”

WORTH EVERY PENNY

Levy was determined to make every pound count in a deal which proved a major success.

Modric played 159 games for the North Londoners across four seasons before Real Madrid came calling with £30m.

In his seven full seasons at the Bernabeu, he has won it all – La Liga, the Copa del Rey, four Champions Leagues and four Club World Cups.

He won the Ballon d’Or and Fifa’s The Best last year as he helped Croatia reach the World Cup final. But who knows if he ever covered the cost of those five shirts for his former club.

Mamic also gave details of when Spurs tried to sign two more Zagreb players.

He added: “I also negotiated the transfer of Allen Halilovic and Tin Jedwaj to Tottenham. My son was their agent and translator. We were sitting in Levy’s office, and sporting director Franco Baldini was there.

“They offered €10m (£8m) and the secretary brought us tea. I told my son to thank Levy and to ask if I should have tea or go home.

“My son didn’t want to translate that. Levy and Baldini realised that I was getting a little more aggressive and then I told them “you go all **** ** mother!”.

“After that, we continued the negotiations and agreed on a compensation of €25m (£20m). Unfortunately, the transfer failed due to the insane demands of Halilovic’s family.”