December 28, 2020 - Spanish national daily sports newspaper Marca has brought the Croatia captain back in the spotlight, stating that Luka Modric will stay at Real Madrid with a new contract until the end of June 2022.
The #10 Real Madrid jersey will remain in possession of the 35-year-old Croatia national team captain, Luka Modric, for at least another year and a half, until the end of June 2022, after verbally agreeing with the club's leaders on a new, one-year contract that he will soon sign, reported Marca.
The agreement between Modric and Real, which will allow the best Croatian footballer to spend the entire decade in Madrid, was quite simple compared to the negotiations with other stars of the Madrid club, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos.
Namely, the Croatian midfielder did not insist on a two-year contract and was ready to reduce his salary, which currently brings him 10 million euro a year. This will help the club overcome the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic, which took about 25 percent of total revenues from Real Madrid or around 200 million euro.
Although he will be close to his 36th birthday on the eve of the new season, Luka Modric is still in top form and makes a visible difference in Real's game when he is on the pitch, which made it easier for club leaders to continue cooperation.
At the insistence of the then Real coach Jose Mourinho, Luka Modric arrived in Madrid from Tottenham London on the penultimate day of the transfer window in August 2012 for 35 million euro. How correct Mourinho's assessment of Modric's quality is proved by looking at the Real Madrid trophy room, which during Modric's time at the club was enriched with four titles in the Champions League, two triumphs in the Spanish championship, one in the King's Cup, three European Super Cup and three FIFA World Club Champion titles.
Modric's current contract with Real, which is valid until the end of June 2021, was actually meant to last until June 30, 2020. However, as the captain of the current World Cup finalists was named the best player in the world in 2018, the club automatically activated another year. It secured Luka's 35th birthday celebration as a Real Madrid player.
Just how much Luka's age is a non-issue is also shown by the statistics of performances this season, in which he collected more than half of the minutes he received last season in the first three months. Although he spared Modric at the beginning of the season, Zinedine Zidane soon realized that his team has a better dynamic with Luka on the pitch, and Luka has collected 1410 minutes so far, which is 75 percent of the maximum possible minutes.
The only championship game he did not play was the last against Granada, which he missed due to tightening in the thigh muscle, which interrupted his series of ten consecutive games in the starting lineup. In that series, his level of play was extremely high, especially in games against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, in the city derby against Atletico, and against Eibar, when he scored in the 3-1 away victory.
There is no doubt that Modric, both this season and next, will be one of the mainstays in the tactical settings of Zinedine Zidane. At the same time, with his example and advice, he will be a mentor to 22-year-old Norwegian Martin Odegaard, who returned from loan at Real Sociedad, and whose football talent and abilities resemble the Croatia captain.
Source: HRT
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