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Croatia coach expects Modric to complete Real deal

Is Luka Modric set for a change of club? © PA Photos

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Croatia coach Igor Stimac has said he believes Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric will join Real Madrid sooner rather than later.

Stimac said he expected the unsettled Spurs star - whose future has been the subject of a summer-long saga - to complete his switch to Spain despite Real's current failure to meet Tottenham's £40 million asking price.

Playmaker Modric has been training alone after missing Tottenham's pre-season tour of America as speculation over his future rumbled on. Manager Andre Villas-Boas has warned him that he must be ready to play for Tottenham again despite his absence from their friendlies.

Stimac, who plans to start the 26-year-old for Croatia against Switzerland in Split on Wednesday, told AS: "I don't like the situation that he is in at all - he has not played any matches at all this summer."

He added: "He will end up signing for Madrid before the market shuts."

Tottenham have already augmented their midfield options with the signing of Gylfi Sigurdsson from Hoffenheim, and are also thought to have made a bid to bring Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila to White Hart Lane.

Gaston Ramirez's agent has claimed Spurs offered £12.5 million for the Bologna forward, but that deal is reported to have stalled over the North London club's wage offer.

Speaking last week, Villas-Boas reiterated the Tottenham stance that Modric would go nowhere unless their valuation of him was met.

He said: "We respect the player's ambition, but he must also respect the club. Until we receive a suitable offer for the player, he will not go.

"I do not know if it will happen, but my job is to get his head right to play for us. It is important that, in the coming days, he realises he must prepare to play for our team.

"The contacts we have had with other clubs have not met with what Tottenham wants for the player. We respect the size of Madrid and the other interested clubs, but they must respect what we are doing, too."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.