Sir Alex Ferguson always wanted to know one thing from Harry Redknapp when his old friend was in charge at West Ham United. "How's Joe?" the Manchester United manager would ask. As in Joe Cole, who, at the time, was the hottest young talent in English football. Ferguson was not the only one to inquire about Cole and Redknapp used to enjoy throwing a protective arm around the prodigy.

It is not difficult to imagine what Ferguson asks Redknapp about these days. He went on record before this visit to Tottenham Hotspur to admit that Gareth Bale was the one that had got away from him. Ferguson made what he described as a "good offer" to Southampton four years ago only to be rebuffed. Tottenham's capture of the Welsh flier looks a sounder investment with each passing week.

Yet Bale is not the only Tottenham player who Ferguson might close his eyes and imagine in a red shirt. Luka Modric looked every inch the United player here, from the sureness of his touch to the way that he sought to impose his class upon proceedings. Redknapp's pre-match comment reverberated. "We have a few players here that Alex would love to have in his team," he said.

In a helter-skelter first half, Modric produced a fistful of moments that cut through the tumult to advertise his quality. There was nothing better than the sharpness of his turn in the ninth minute, his low centre of gravity seeming to give him magnetic properties, and the subsequent ball out to Alan Hutton, whose cross might have been tucked away by Peter Crouch. The home crowd chorused Modric's name.

Although this was not a game for the creative talents – witness Wayne Rooney's perspiration, rather than inspiration – Modric consistently demanded the ball. The intelligence of his darting runs and the smoothness of his technique were so easy on the eye and he did not need Wilson Palacios, all heavy touches and misplaced passes alongside him, to look good.

The Croat can make opponents seem foolish with a drop of his shoulder. Darren Fletcher might attest to that after Modric left him trailing along the byline following a short corner routine, yet he is no mere jinking trickster. Despite his small frame he has plenty of strength and is not easily knocked off the ball. His intuitive grasp of the angles of a game and where to position his body ensures he rarely loses possession.

Modric has settled into the role of the deep-lying playmaker since Rafael van der Vaart's arrival at Spurs and the position feels tailor-made for his vision, the clever weight of his pass and his ability to set the tempo. As Tottenham stepped on to the front foot in the second half, particularly after Rafael da Silva's sending-off, it was Modric who waved the baton. He did not neglect his defensive duties, though, as one timely interception from a Rooney cross on 67 minutes showed.

United's supporters have wondered this season whether there is sufficient creativity in the centre of their midfield and Ferguson would surely relish the opportunity to work with Modric. There was interest expressed from Old Trafford at the end of last season but, happily for Tottenham, Modric, who signed a new six-year contract in the summer, feels a debt of loyalty to them.

He is grateful that they took such an expensive chance on a player from the Croatian league and, with Chelsea having also shot covetous glances at him, has simply put his head down and channelled all of his energies into repaying Tottenham. This was the latest instalment. Nemanja Vidic might have had an argument and, frankly, nobody would choose to argue with the United captain, a totem in central defence, but Modric deserved the man-of-the-match champagne.

Tottenham had entered the game full of confidence that they could end a winless streak against United that had stretched 10 years and 23 matches in all competitions. Certainly, they fear nobody on their own turf. But United kept them largely at arm's length – it was hard to recall Edwin van der Sar making a save – and, after a pulsating start, the game gradually took on the characteristics of a stalemate.

Tottenham remain in fifth and their grand statement of intent did not materialise. They had to content themselves with an individual one from the little man with the No14 on his back.