Legendary Croatia striker Davor Suker was quoted over the weekend urging his compatriot Luka Modric to join Real Madrid this summer
Modric has been heavily linked with a move away from Tottenham Hotspur following the firing of Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.
Modric, who wants to play Champions League football, has been long been linked with a move to Manchester United and also came close to signing for Chelsea last summer.
Suker is hoping that Modric will leave the Premier League and move to La Liga.
“As a future president of Croatian football, I’d love to see Luka Modric join Real Madrid,” he told Marca.
“He has the quality and the ability to play for a big club like Real. But it is a question I will pose with my heart to [coach Jose] Mourinho and [president Florentino] Perez.”
The challenge for Modric is finding a top team where he can play every week. In the past Tottenham have rejected bids for him from Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
But since then Chelsea have added Eden Hazard, Man United Shinji Kagawa and Man City have David Silva, all players who play in Modric’s preferred role.
The challenge for Modric going to Real Madrid is whether he is good enough to break into the Spanish champions starting line-up considering the wealth of playmakers Mourinho currently has at his disposal.
In Mesut Ozil, Real currently have one of the best midfielders in the world. Add in Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Nuri Sahin, Angel di Maria and former Ballon d’Or winner Kaka and I start to wonder whose position Modric would take.
I can see why Daniel Levy and Spurs want to do this deal with Madrid. Modric wants to leave and by selling him to Real Madrid they don’t strengthen a Premier League rival. And they might get Mourinho to pay over the top for Modric. Media reports suggest that Levy has asked for £25 million plus Nuri Sahin. If he can get that, then that is a great piece of business for Spurs.
But I am not sold that Madrid would be the best destination for Modric.