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.'