Real Madrid: 5 Most Valuable Players of the last decade
By Parshva Shah
Real Madrid CM Luka Modric
Can I say that Luka Modrić has been the greatest central midfielder in Real Madrid history? It wouldn’t be hyperbolic, would it? Hell yes, he is the greatest central midfielder in Real Madrid history and no, I am not hyperbolizing it.
One shouldn’t forget that Modrić was termed as the worst La Liga signing in a poll conducted by Spanish publication MARCA in 2012. It has been a dramatic turnaround for the Croatian since that poll. He has won 16 titles with Los Blancos while also bagging a Ballon d’Or award in 2018. He continues to play an integral role in the squad, thanks to Zinedine Zidane managing his minutes perfectly and bringing the best out of him.
The way he covered the pitch during his prime, doubling up with Dani Carvajal in defensive transition and using his technical tricks to completely rattle the middle-third and final-third, were the standouts of Modrić’s imperious reign as the best midfielder on Earth.
He used his press-resistance to good effect to shrug off any pressure from opposition players and made inroads into the advanced regions of the pitch with his effective passing and dribbling skills. The pace on the Croatian’s legs was quite underrated too.
Magicians use their hands to pull off tricks and mesmerize the audience. Modrić was no less a magician in that regard. Dropping his shoulder, using his body movements to fool the defender, using his chest to control the ball and then flicking it over the head of an onrushing player, or simply using the outside of his boot to make a pinpoint pass for the creation of a goalscoring chance were little, but eye-candy tricks that the wizard had up his sleeves. Everything that passed through his feet looked seamless: a work of quaint art.
The dyad of Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić has been the greatest midfield partnership in Real Madrid history, and probably one of the greatest in football history, if not the greatest. They absolutely swayed the midfield week in, week out.
He will turn 35 on Sept. 9. His days as a midfield supremo are behind him, making way for young guns like Fede Valverde and Martin Ødegaard to carry his legacy, but he still has a year on his contract, which will likely be extended if he can perform the way he did during the final weeks of the La Liga campaign.