John Terry would welcome Luka Modric to Chelsea

Chelsea have made two bids for Modric (GETTY IMAGES)

Chelsea captain John Terry has lauded Luka Modric as a "world-class player" and said he would be welcomed at Stamford Bridge with open arms.

The Tottenham midfielder has been the subject of fevered speculation this summer linking him with a move away from north London.

Such talk was fuelled further by the player himself after Modric admitted he would like to leave White Hart Lane for pastures new, preferably Stamford Bridge.

While Terry was not keen to comment on the speculation, he admits the Croatia international's addition would be a great boost to Andre Villas-Boas' squad.

"He's a world-class player who is very difficult to play against," he told Sky Sports News.

"He's very agile, very quick and a great finisher like we've seen over many years.

"I know there are problems. It's probably a little bit disrespectful towards Spurs... [to talk about the situation].

"He has his own problems at the moment.

"We've got a good squad of players. If he comes he could certainly add to that."

Terry was speaking during Chelsea's pre-season tour of Asia, where they will take on a Malaysian All-Star XI on Thursday before taking part in a similar match in Thailand three days later.

The west Londoners played their first official pre-season friendly on Saturday, where former Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim's own goal handed Villas-Boas' side a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth.

Fernando Torres' cross forced the Israel international to head into his own net and Terry believes the £50million striker will be at his best next season after a poor start to life in west London.

"He backs himself," he said. "He realises from the World Cup he had a slight injury and carried that towards the end of last season.

"He feels fresh, he's happy. He's fully settled. I'm certainly looking for him to get double figures goals wise.

"He was still good at times last year. He's a world-class player and the price tag is a big weight to carry on your shoulders.

"He's got all the ability in the world. He's very quick and a great finisher.

"We're delighted to have him and if he can bring goals along with what we already have then fantastic."