'Daniel Levy is the best transfer negotiator in the world, but once I had to tell him to go f*** himself’ Ex-Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamic recalls testy boardroom meeting with notorious ex-Tottenham Hotspur chief

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Ex-Tottenham Hotspur chief Daniel Levy was known for his negotiating abilities

In 2013, Tottenham Hotspur were targeting the joint-purchase of Croatian duo Alen Halilovic and Tin Jedvaj, negotiating with then-Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamic.

Daniel Levy and Mamic shared history — in 2008, they ironed out a joint-club record deal for eventual Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric — and their latest negotiations were set to cost Spurs €25 million.

Levy’s financial ruthlessness had previously emerged in negotiations for Modric, but Mamic confessed in a 2019 interview, exclusively with FourFourTwo, that their boardroom exchange was far testier for Halilovic and Jedvaj.

‘I told them go f*** yourself’

Mamic was not pleased by Levy's behaviour during negotiations for the Zagreb duo.

At the time, a teenage Halilovic was touted as the next Modric, while Jedvaj was believed to be a defensive game-changer.

The latter sealed a move to Roma in 2013, while Halilovic attracted Barcelona — although, after their transfers,neither enjoyed top-level careers in Europe — and Mamic confirmed how close Spurs came to bagging the duo.

Halilovic was seen as the next Modric, at the time.

The ex-Zagreb director revealed: "I negotiated with [Levy] over the transfers of Alen Halilovic and Tin Jedvaj to Tottenham. My son was their agent and translator, and I represented the interests of Dinamo.

Mamic then revealed how Spurs’ lowball offer provoked fury: “We sat in Levy’s office with the sporting director, Franco Baldini, and Levy offered us around €10m as his secretary served us tea. After hearing their offer, I told my son to thank Levy,” Mamic continued.

"[I also told him] to ask if ‘I should drink my tea, or just go straight home?’ My son did not want to translate that!

"Levy and Baldini realised that I had become a little more aggressive, then I told them ‘Idite vi svi u picku materinu’ [the Croatian equivalent of ‘go f*** yourself’].

"They stood up and asked me to stay, because €10m was not their final offer for the players. After that we continued the negotiations and agreed a fee of €25m,” Mamic told FFT.

Halilovic's move to Barcelona did not work out for him. (Image credit: Getty Images)

On why the deal later collapsed, the ex-Zagreb director revealed that demands from one player’s side of the table scuppered the agreement.

“Unfortunately, the deal eventually fell through, partly because of crazy new demands from Halilovic’s side,” claimed Mamic. The midfielder would eventually play in England nearly a decade later — for Birmingham City, then Reading, in the Championship.

Jedvaj, whose top-flight career played out predominantly with Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, is currently at Al-Shabab, while Halilovic, just 30-years-old, is club-less after leaving Fortuna Sittard.

Still, it appears that Mamic nearly manufactured the perfect heist in shipping them to Spurs, even with Levy’s testy boardroom antics… and he would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddlin’ Halilovic.

Kedar Bayley is a trained journalist specialising in culture reporting. As a fan of Liverpool FC, he writes on the Reds often. Knowledgable about all things sports, cinema and television, you can find his words in Screen International, FourFourTwo, Manchester Evening News and more.

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