But Chelsea’s 27 million-pound bid two weeks ago was dismissed out of hand by the north London club and Villas-Boas admits it will take ‘incredible’ money to entice the midfielder from their Premier League rivals to Stamford Bridge.
“You know what the situation is, it is public,” Villas-Boas said after his side defeated Portsmouth 1-0 in a pre-season friendly on Saturday. “You can understand the position that the club has taken.”
“At the moment we are scanning the market for everything. (Modric plays in) one of the positions we are looking to strengthen.”
“But here you saw we adapted Yossi (Benayoun)’s position in the middle and also against Wycombe he was marvellous in the position.”
“It is just a question of finding the solution. If it happens it happens, if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen.”
The Portuguese boss hinted that if a deal is not done soon, he will move on to other options.
“It does not depend on us. Spurs have a right to defend their player and property. We just have to wait,” he added.
“We respect whatever position Tottenham takes and the prices we are talking about is an incredible amount of money.”