Tottenham manager has restored the disgruntled striker’s reputation as his best player despite a demand for Chelsea transfer in August

At the beginning of the season, Luka Modric had not only demanded a transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Chelsea but he had virtually gone on strike in an effort to force it through. Harry Redknapp, the Spurs manager, did not play the Croatia midfielder in the club’s first Premier League fixture, at Manchester United, because his head was “not in the right place” and he revealed that, only hours before the second, at home to Manchester City, Modric had told him that it remained off kilter and he did not want to play.

Redknapp forced him into that game, which ended in a second dispiriting defeat and, in the aftermath, he talked of the club enduring “a terrible pre-season … there’s been a feeling round the place – for me, it’s not been right – with people going and people wanting to go”.

The transformation since the closure of the summer window, in both Modric and Tottenham, has been staggering. The 26-year-old, who was held to the terms of his five-year contract, will step out to face Chelsea at White Hart Lane on Thursday night with his reputation as the club’s best player restored, even if his open goal miss against Sunderland on Sunday had him cringing.

Tottenham have taken 34 points from an available 39 to present an argument that they are the strongest squad in the capital. Redknapp bridled at the notion that they were the favourites against Chelsea and he lamented injury doubts over Ledley King, Gareth Bale, Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor, but he did note that Tottenham, “only a few years ago, were not sitting here talking about an even game”. The Chelsea support would mockingly refer to “Three Point Lane”.

Redknapp has mixed sympathy with worldliness and calculation in his handling of Modric and there is an argument that he has played a key part in the player’s rehabilitation, which that has yielded one of the the keys to the season. H, though he would have none of that. Regular Redknapp watchers have heard the same sentence time and again “He’s a great lad, Luka, you couldn’t meet a nicer fella … he’s not been a moment’s trouble.”

But Redknapp’s decision to side so publicly with Modric and even to agree that he could “understand where he was coming from”, in terms of his desire to switch to a Champions League club and, in the process, treble his salary brought him into conflict with his chairman, Daniel Levy. If Redknapp’s canny man-managerial stance has served to keep his prized asset on side, and playing for him, then his comment that “you can’t say he is worth £40m and want to pay him the wages of someone who is worth £5m” went down a treat with the rest of the dressing room.

“I could have caused myself a problem with the club” said Redknapp. “At one stage, I did [side against Levy] because I said I could understand where Luka was coming from. It was a great opportunity for him to treble his wages.”

Redknapp, though, might have enjoyed Levy’s bad cop to his good cop, which succeeded in keeping Modric and he endorses a continuation of the policy that says the player is not for sale. The rumours persist that Chelsea will try again, possibly in January, and at no point has Modric said anything about how delighted he is to have stayed at Tottenham. The talks aimed at rewarding him with enhanced terms have still to reach resolution.

“I don’t expect Luka to want to go anywhere,” Redknapp said. “No matter what Chelsea offer, he ain’t going to Chelsea in January. No

• Met opens formal investigation after assessing complaint
• Terry denies racially abusing Ferdinand

Officers from Hammersmith and Fulham police have launched a formal investigation into allegations that John Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea’s defeat at Queens Park Rangers.

The Metropolitan police had spent the previous week assessing a complaint emailed by a member of the public 24 hours after the game at Loftus Road last month. TV footage of the 85th‑minute incident has been collected and scrutinised from around 20 Sky Sports cameras, prompting the authorities to upgrade the complaint from an “assessment period” to a formal investigation that could yet end in criminal proceedings.

The Football Association’s separate inquiry is ongoing, with both players involved having been interviewed and witness statements being collected by the body’s disciplinary and governance unit.

There had been hopes that the matter would be resolved this week, ahead of the announcement on Sunday of Fabio Capello’s England squad for the friendlies against Spain and Sweden. Those aspirations appear to have been dashed, with the issue likely to be hanging over Terry if, as had been anticipated, he captains the national side for the games at Wembley. There had been no suggestion the 30-year-old would be omitted from the squad for the matches as a result of being the subject of the FA inquiry, and there is nothing to prevent him from being picked now that the police have launched their inquiry. It remains to be seen whether Capello will opt to pick the player for what was always likely to be an experimental party.

The FA seemed to confirm on Tuesday night that it would not rule on the matter without knowing whether the police intend to bring charges against the defender. It said: “Further to an allegation from the recent QPR versus Chelsea fixture, the Football Association has been formally investigating the matter. The Metropolitan police has contacted the FA to make us further aware of their investigation into the matter. Due to this it would be inappropriate for the FA to comment until the police have completed their own inquiries.”

The Met are not working to any set timeframe and are likely to seek their own interviews with those involved, principally Ferdinand, Terry – who denies racially abusing his opponent – and Ashley Cole, Clint Hill, Branislav Ivanovic and Fitz Hall. They will attempt to speak to Terry this week but the process of conducting all the interviews will inevitably take time given the logistics of the international fixtures over the next few weeks.

Terry, who started Tuesday evening’s Champions League game against Genk on the bench, has admitted using offensive words but claims he had shouted them as a denial having been under the impression that Ferdinand had accused him of making a racist remark. He welcomed the FA’s inquiry, which was launched last week, as an opportunity to clear his name.

Ferdinand broke his public silence on the matter this week saying he had “very strong feelings” on the issue and was confident the FA would undertake a “very thorough inquiry” into the matter. He has submitted his written testimony to the disciplinary and governance unit.

The QPR player was targeted with racist abuse on Twitter yesterday on Tuesday following the release of his statement while Chelsea fans at Genk chanted “Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are”.

John TerryChelseaQPRRace issuesguardian.co.uk