Farewell to This Soccer Legend
Who is Luka Modrić? To the people in the world of professional soccer, he is known as one of the greatest modern midfielders to ever grace the pitch. In every club he has played for, he has been loved and lauded as a club legend. Whether it was Dinamo Zagreb, Tottenham Hotspur, or Real Madrid, he would end up shining and becoming a favorite of the fans. On the international front, he was a part of the modern Croatian golden generation. On the national team, he played with other stars such as Ivan Rakitić, Mario Mandžukić, Ivan Perišić, and others. In this lineup, he was considered the beating heart of the national team and was the pride and joy of all Croatians who watched him in international competition.
Early Beginnings: Dinamo Zagreb
Modrić joined Dinamo's youth academy after being scouted playing for Bosnian club Zrinjski Mostar and Croatian club Inter Zaprešić on loan. In 2005, he was able to become a first-team regular and very quickly became one of the top midfielders in the Croatian League using his vision, technique, and tactical maturity despite being, on average, smaller than other players. During his time at Dinamo Zagreb, he dominated the league, winning the league title three years in a row. He also won the Croatian Cup twice while at the Croatian giants in the seasons of 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. On the individual level, he was awarded the Croatian Footballer of the Year award in 2007. At the end of the 2007-2008 season, he ended up leaving for Tottenham Hotspur. His departure to the Premier League was a huge step in his career and set the stage for the rest of his success to come. In the Croatian league, he had already built a reputation for being the biggest and brightest young Croatian talent. He would not disappoint with all the hype he had built up in the early part of his career.
A Young Star Begins His Climb: Tottenham Hotspur
The young, talented Croatian midfielder joined Tottenham Hotspur in the 2008-2009 Premier League season for a club record at the time of 16.5 million Euros. Like many younger players who join a big league, like the Premier League or La Liga, they need to adapt to a new style of play that may require more physicality or more technical skill. In the case of Luka Modrić, he required more physicality or some way to make up for the lack of it in his game. At the time he joined, the head coach was Juande Ramos; he only played under that coach for a very short time, as Ramos was sacked on October 26th, 2008, and replaced with English coach Harry Redknapp. This was the turning point for the young Croatian. Redknapp had unleashed Modrić, getting the most out of him but also helping him adapt to a more physically demanding league. Redknapp would deploy Modrić as a deep-lying playmaker, he would be the player to set the pace of the game and the midfield, creating key plays for the team alongside players like Gareth Bale and Dutch legend Rafael van der Vaart. His qualities as a midfielder made him a fan favorite of the Tottenham fandom and brought Tottenham into the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 2010. He almost left for Chelsea in 2011, but Tottenham decided to make sure he stayed, which allowed for his transfer to Real Madrid in 2012. This was the move that would define his career.
A Timeless Legend: Real Madrid Legend
In 2012, Luka Modrić joined Mourinho’s Real Madrid squad. A lot like in his stint at Tottenham, he initially struggled. The immense pressure of playing at a club like Real Madrid and adapting to a much higher level of competition in La Liga was something that took time for him to adapt to. At first, the Croatian was considered a flop signing, but very quickly after that, he started to adapt and proved the doubters wrong. By the 2013-2014 season, with the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti to Real Madrid, he was beginning to change his fortune at Los Blancos. Carlo Ancelotti created one of the most iconic midfield pairings with Luka Modrić and Xabi Alonso. In this first season under Carlo Ancelotti, they won the Copa del Rey by beating fierce rivals FC Barcelona 2-1 in the finals.
In the following season, Luka Modrić was a key part of the team that went on to win the 10th UEFA Champions League for Los Blancos, an event that was known as “La Décima”. In that season, he was included in the “Team of the Tournament” and La Liga, and he was awarded the LFP award for the "Best Midfielder" of the Spanish first division for that season. After this historic season, the titles and awards started to come one after the other in the coming years. Now, established as a star player in each iteration of the squad of Los Blancos he won in his time at Real Madrid a total of four La Liga’s, two Copa del Rey titles, five Supercopa de España titles, six UCL titles, five UEFA Super Cups, five FIFA Club World Cups and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup in 2024. The Croatian solidified his legacy at Los Blancos, but not only that, he solidified himself as one of the greatest midfielders in the history of the club and international competition. He leaves at the end of this season with Carlo Ancelotti as well, having played his final game at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid in front of all the fans who chanted his name and celebrated the victories he helped bring to the club for so many years. The club and fans will miss one of the greatest midfielders ever to have kicked a ball.
