It may have been a sign of the success that was to come for Luka Modric at Real Madrid that his first trophy in the Spanish capital came just two days after he arrived from Tottenham Hotspur.
Modric came on for the final 10 minutes of the Supercopa de Espana second leg against Barcelona on August 29, 2012, with Madrid claiming the trophy on away goals soon afterwards. The celebratory photo that followed shows the Croatia midfielder kneeling on the fringes of the group, half-smiling and with Cristiano Ronaldo’s arm draped around him.
Only three players from that picture remain at the club: Modric, Karim Benzema and Nacho Fernandez. All three are on course to be out of contract on June 30 and their futures are uncertain, albeit to varying degrees. More than 10 years on, however, it is easy to forget that Modric did not have it all his own way when he first came to the Santiago Bernabeu — readers of Spanish sports daily Marca voted him the worst signing of 2012 a few months after he joined.
Modric made his debut that night a decade ago with the No 19 on his back. He had stayed away from training at Spurs and missed their pre-season tour to the United States to force through a move to Madrid that cost €30million plus €5m in variables (£26.3m plus £4.4m). Catalan newspaper Sport inflated the figures on their ill-judged front page on August 28, declaring that Barcelona’s biggest rivals had spent “€42million to cover up embarrassments”.
These could be Modric’s final days on the international stage – they are moments to savour
Even so, it was a significant outlay from Madrid at the insistence of then-manager Jose Mourinho. It proved worth the effort: Modric has made 469 appearances, scored 37 goals and won 22 trophies with the Spanish giants. So far.
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning, but it passed when I touched the ball,” Modric said after that 2-1 debut win over Barcelona.
Luka Modric won the Supercopa de Espana on his Real Madrid debut — two days after signing from Spurs (Photo: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images).
With Madrid set to entertain the old enemy again in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Thursday, the now 37-year-old Modric shows no signs of slowing down. He played a key role in their 5-2 comeback win against Liverpool in the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie just over a week ago, summed up when he burst past the 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic for his side’s final goal of the night.
So what is the secret to Modric’s longevity? Normality, according to those around him.
People who know the midfielder say he does not do anything special beyond his age-defying displays on the pitch. Although he has a gym at home, Modric does not employ any specialists to take care of certain parts of his off-field routine. He does not have a particularly strict diet and does not sleep in any sort of special bed.
Instead, he is simply exemplary in terms of his professionalism. He is one of the first players to arrive at Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground, where he usually eats breakfast. He is treated by the club’s physios early in the morning and then gives his all in the sessions, where those who see him every day say he is incredibly competitive and can even become angry when his team don’t win a practice game.
Madrid value Modric’s dedication, particularly given everything he has achieved in his career (Photo: Denis Doyle/Getty Images).
Modric is also among the last to leave Valdebebas, regularly staying on to work in the gym or receive more treatment from physios to aid his recovery and prevent injuries.
Madrid’s board and their coaching staff value the dedication shown by Modric. Although they are used to it after so many seasons of consistent excellence from the Croatian, they are impressed by his hard work considering he has won everything, including the Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s The Best award in 2018 after leading his club to another Champions League crown and his country to the World Cup final.
At home, Modric lives a normal family life with his wife and children. He often picks up his kids from school and enjoys spending quality time with them. “It is the success of normality and doing things in a natural way,” say those who know him best, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships.
Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti is delighted with him. Modric played the seventh-highest minutes in the squad last season (3,435), scoring three goals and providing 12 assists in 45 games in all competitions. He has continued to be pivotal this campaign, playing the 10th-highest minutes (2,101), scoring six goals and contributing five assists in 33 appearances so far.
Most minutes for Real Madrid this season
Modric came on as a substitute against Atletico Madrid after an hour on Saturday and provided an inch-perfect corner for youngster Alvaro Rodriguez to rescue a point on 85 minutes. That followed his majestic performance against Liverpool, where he was replaced late on to a standing ovation from the Anfield crowd.
Modric played a crucial role in Madrid’s 5-2 win against Liverpool (Photo: David S Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images).
Modric appears to be back to his best after suffering a slump in form after the recent World Cup, where he captained Croatia to a third-place finish. That was something the midfielder himself acknowledged before that first leg against Liverpool.
“After the World Cup, I made a mistake, playing immediately instead of doing a specific plan and coming back little by little,” said Modric, who played against Real Valladolid only 13 days on from that play-off win over Morocco. “It affected me a little bit, but I’m feeling good and I want to continue like this until June.”
Despite his age, Modric’s playing style has not changed.
He continues to cover an impressive amount of ground for Madrid, as shown by the below graphic of his touches in La Liga this season. Though a midfielder would usually be expected to have a zone of the pitch where the majority of their touches were concentrated, Modric’s coverage is widespread.
His role has stayed largely similar since 2017-18, but there are even certain aspects of Modric’s game that have improved as he has pushed on into his fourth decade. That is shown in the graphic below, which uses data from smarterscout to illustrate the midfielder’s style.
Smarterscout gives players a series of ratings from zero and 99, relating to either how often they perform a given stylistic action (for example, volume of shots per touch), or how effective they are at it (for example, how well they progress the ball upfield) compared with others at their position.
Modric’s contribution to chance creation (xG) and his contribution to ball progression are as high as they have been in some time (81 out of 99 for the former, 62 out of 99 for the latter). His link-up passing and ball retention have stayed remarkably consistent over the past six seasons, showing how he makes neat and tidy passes to nearby team-mates and rarely gives away possession.
Though there has been a slight drop in his off-the-ball effectiveness in recent years, he is still consistent at getting tight to his man to make a defensive action (defending intensity) and regularly prevents opposition teams from progressing the ball (defending impact).
So given all that, why has Modric’s contract not been renewed yet?
The simple answer is that Madrid have still not called him about it.
The official version is that the club do not like to discuss these matters while they are fighting for titles on multiple fronts, but Benzema, Toni Kroos and Nacho — whose contracts also expire this summer — all know they have the option to extend their deals if they say yes. There have also been talks with the agents of Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos, two others who are soon to be out of contract, where specific numbers have even been discussed.
That is not the case with Modric.
It is a situation the Croatian is used to, though, given it happened last year, when his 12-month renewal was not finalised until May. If he does not re-sign with Madrid, the most likely option for Modric is a move to Saudi Arabia — he has already received highly lucrative offers from clubs there.
“I feel good and I want to stay at Real Madrid,” Modric said before the Liverpool game last Tuesday. “But I have to talk to the club, see what they think, and we’ll see. I want to stay because I deserve it, not because they give it to me. I’ve never been given anything in my life and it’s not going to happen now. Whatever happens, nothing is going to change my relationship with Real Madrid: it’s the club of my life whatever happens.”
Ancelotti has been clear about what he thinks players such as Modric should do.
“Real Madrid legends have to retire here,” he has said on multiple occasions.
That is still to be decided in the case of Modric.
Source: theathletic.com
