Michael Dawson: We're still all friends with Luka Modric

Spotlight: Michael Dawson says the Tottenham players want to stay united
Charles Perrin11 April 2012

Tottenham captain Michael Dawson today insisted Luka Modric has not created a rift in the squad despite publicly requesting a move away from the club.

The Croatia international, who signed a six-year deal last summer, has repeatedly stated his desire to quit White Hart Lane.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has so far refused to consider selling the midfielder and was criticised by Modric earlier this week for blocking his "dream" move to Chelsea.

Roman Abramovich has sanctioned two bids of £22million and £27m for the player.

But despite the Croatian's attempts to force a move away from Spurs, England defender Dawson claimed there was no problem between Modric and his team-mates.

He said: "We are all friends with Luka. We have got great team spirit amongst the players and we want to keep that together."

Dawson was speaking as Spurs continue pre-season preparations on their tour of South Africa, which kicks off with a match against Kaizer Chiefs in Johannesburg tomorrow.

Chelsea are expected to return with an improved offer but Spurs manager Harry Redknapp believes Levy will not back down.

He said: "We know he wants to leave and whether he writes it down on a piece of paper doesn't make any difference to our stance. He's a great player and we don't want to lose him."

Assistant manager Kevin Bond is in charge of the South African tour and says he has been impressed with Modric in training.

"Luka has been as good as gold," said Bond. "He is working hard in training and he is very much part of the group.

"It doesn't surprise me that a number of clubs want to take Luka Modric and quite possibly a number of our players. He is a fantastic footballer and it doesn't surprise me that other teams want him."

Meanwhile, Tottenham's hopes of offloading Giovani Dos Santos to Sevilla suffered a setback after the club's president, Jose Maria del Nido, said his club were only interested in a loan deal for the Mexico international forward.

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