Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is famed for his ability to drive a hard bargain and a hilarious tale has now surfaced about the deal he struck to sign Luka Modric in 2008.
Levy agreed a £20 million fee for the midfielder before Zagreb asked for five Tottenham shirts as part of the transfer.
Levy agreed to the request but then demanded that the Croatian club paid for the shirts and deducted the cost from the transfer fee.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, Zagreb's former executive director, Zdrvako 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.'
Mamic also went on to negotiate the transfers of two other players, Allen Halilovic and Tin Jedwaj, but both moves fell through after lengthy negotiations with Levy.
'My son was the agent and translator for both players,' he added. '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.'
zotadortu
0
levy has no capable in anything
KLKL
0
we need a better owner someone like man city psg or Chelseas owner
don't expect that..levy owned it very long time.
rioaemosy
0
capable..as long the money goes into bank..doesn't matter the cabinet still trophyless [Crylaugh]
we need a better owner someone like man city psg or Chelseas owner
KLKL
0
capable..as long the money goes into bank..doesn't matter the cabinet still trophyless [Crylaugh]
reached
1
Levy sees it all as a game and challenge. That doesn't always work anns as a result Spurs have, and will continue to lose out on players they need
sunny21
1
Four by two to the bone.
Jackeven
0
lol.. thats a disgrace.
wrappedbe
0
That's just lacking class - end of.
fazeza
1
That's the reason half the team are walking away for free....not that savvy
Bohcimrt
2
Where I come from, we don't call it driving a hard bargain when it's done on petty items like five jerseys, we call a spade a spade. Levy is stingy that's all, I will not argue about it.
Jarredb
0
Recycling stories. You told us this last month aswell.
boibrandon
2
lol 😂,, what was the total cost of the 5 shirts??? [Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
raynknight
2
Don't worry , They Sold a Future Ballon d'or winner just For €30m .............Levi learned a Lesson