Fulham boss Martin Jol: Tottenham must keep Luka Modric to secure Champions League football

Luka Modric, Tottenham Hotspur

Related Links

Teams

Players

Martin Jol is adamant Tottenham must retain Luka Modric for next season if they are to stand a chance of securing a top-four finish.

The Croatian midfielder revealed he wanted to leave Tottenham this summer and hinted at Chelsea being his preferred destination – a statement Spurs chairman Daniel Levy responded to with a ‘hands off’ warning.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has also been vocal in wanting to keep the 25-year-old at White Hart Lane for the sake of his side’s progression, and Jol, who was in the dugout at Spurs for three years from 2004 to 2007, has echoed those sentiments.

“If Spurs can keep Modric, it would be a big difference and give a good start if they want to be champions or in the top four,” he said.

Jol compared the current situation at Spurs to his time at the club which saw Michael Carrick sold to Manchester United.

“People always say if you sell Carrick or Berbatov who left after the Dutchman’s departure, that you are a selling club. In Holland, it is a complement, but in England it is not,” he said.

Fulham face NSI Runavik on June 30 in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, in what will be Jol’s first competitive game since being appointed earlier this month but the former Ajax boss insists a significant reshape of the side will not be instantaneous.

“But in the next couple of months and years, we will try to do something. In our style, we have to get the results,” said Jol.

“I need results, but on the other hand want to play good attacking football in an organised way.”

“If you look at the team, it is an older team and they did very well in their own style, and I cannot change that overnight into total football with the style we play in Holland.”