How Zdravko Mamic told Daniel Levy to go f*** himself and still walked away with €25m

Former Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamic has revealed the extraordinary moment he told Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy to “go f*** himself” during transfer negotiations in 2013, before the two men ultimately agreed a €25m fee for Croatian duo Alen Halilovic and Tin Jedvaj — a deal that subsequently fell apart.

Mamic, speaking in a 2019 interview, described sitting in Levy’s London office alongside Spurs sporting director Franco Baldini when the Tottenham chairman opened with an offer of around €10m for the two players. The figure was so far below Dinamo’s valuation that Mamic, whose son was acting as agent and translator, reached breaking point almost immediately.

“We sat in Levy’s office with the sporting director, Franco Baldini, and Levy offered us around €10m as his secretary served us tea,” Mamic recalled. “After hearing their offer, I told my son to thank Levy and to ask if ‘I should drink my tea, or just go straight home?’ My son did not want to translate that.”

When the message was eventually conveyed, Mamic went further. “I told them ‘Idite vi svi u picku materinu’” — the Croatian equivalent of go f*** yourself — he said. “They stood up and asked me to stay, because €10m was not their final offer. After that we continued the negotiations and agreed a fee of €25m.”

The episode adds colour to Levy’s long-standing reputation as one of football’s most tenacious negotiators. Mamic would have known what to expect: the pair had previously done business in 2008, when they completed a joint-club record deal that took Luka Modric from Zagreb to White Hart Lane. Modric, of course, went on to win the Ballon d’Or.

At the time of the 2013 talks, teenage midfielder Halilovic was widely regarded as the next Modric, while centre-back Jedvaj was considered a significant defensive prospect. Neither ultimately fulfilled that early promise. Jedvaj moved to Roma before spending the bulk of his career at Bayer Leverkusen and is currently at Saudi side Al-Shabab. Halilovic, now 30 and without a club after leaving Fortuna Sittard, did eventually play in England — but in the Championship, with Birmingham City and Reading.

As for why the Spurs deal collapsed after the fee had been agreed, Mamic pointed the finger at the Halilovic camp. “Unfortunately, the deal eventually fell through, partly because of crazy new demands from Halilovic’s side,” he said.