After a marvelous, legendary career with the club, 39-year-old Luka Modrić has announced his farewell to Real Madrid.
Modrić shared on social media:
“Dear Real Madrid fans:
The time has come. The time I never wanted to come, but that’s football, and in life everything has a beginning and an end… On Saturday I’ll play my last game at the Santiago Bernabéu. I arrived in 2012 with the hope of wearing the shirt of the best team in the world and the ambition to do great things, but I couldn’t have imagined what came next. Playing for Real Madrid changed my life as a footballer and as a person. I’m proud to have been part of one of the most successful eras of the best club in history.
“I want to sincerely thank the club, especially president Florentino Pérez, my teammates, coaches, and everyone who has helped me throughout this time. over these years, I’ve experienced incredible moments, comebacks that seemed impossible, finals, celebrations, and magical nights at the Bernabéu… We’ve won everything, and I’ve been very happy. Very, very happy. But beyond the titles and victories, I carry the affection of all Real Madrid fans in my heart.
“I truly don’t know how to explain the special connection I have with you all, and how supported, respected, and loved I have felt and continue to feel. I will never forget every ovation and all the gestures of affection you have shown me. I am leaving with a full heart. Full of pride, gratitude, and indelible memories. And although, after the Club World Cup, I will no longer wear this shirt on the pitch, I will always be a Real Madrid fan. We will meet again. Real Madrid will always be my home. For life. Hala Madrid and Nothing Else. Luka Modric.”
Modrić will end his time in Madrid as the most decorated player in club history. His accolades include six Champions League trophies, four La Liga titles, and a Ballon d’Or in 2018 — the greatest individual honor in football.
Congratulations on a wonderful career as a Madrista, and best of luck on your journey ahead, Luka.
I’ve heard multiple rumors of Modric’s next club… Does anyone have any verifiable updates on where he might land?
How do tie breakers work?
Surprise surprise
Toni Fruk scores the 2nd
Game and league over
Criminal if Dalic doesn’t start Fruk over the anonymous brothers Baturina and Luka Sucic
Should probably call up Mudrajiza for injured Kovacic too
Jankovic
All set up and assisted by Toni Fruk (par for the course)
Once the B teams are playing in 2nd tier next year – DZ will start significantly leading competitors as instead of selling players to competitors they will be able to retain them and play them in the B team (Jankovic, Jagusic perfect e.g.)
You know maminjo, i usually enjoy lot of your posts but you’ve fallen way off your game lately.
Modric invest in Croatia and buy no zadar? Worst advice ever
I looked into buying hajduk some time ago when it was facing financial difficulties and found it extremely unappealing
Let’s put aside the ownership structure difficulty with fan ownership/city governance etc and assume we could work around that.
First is the fan base is terrible. They are going to hate you no matter what you do. It’s a Croatian thing. How many titles did dinamo win yet mamic was still hated?
It struggles financially and is put in a negative scenario of constantly having to sell young players early to pay the bills
Tv rights are obviously minuscule
And although historic, the stadium is of poor quality
Take all those negatives and multiply it for nk zadar. Why on earth would modric get involved particularly when he knows nothing about running a club?
Simul-cast on MaxSport5 today
You’re welcome 😊😊😊
Love,
Anonymous
Modric already pissing money away at Swansea
He bought a house for 1.3 euros
The house been on the market since 2017 (yes, 8 years) owned by footballer Leon Britton
Good luck ever trying to sell it
Stupidest RE investment ever
All that money invested in Swansea, he could have invested in Cro.
It would have been nice to see him ressurect NK Zadar and bring them back into the HNL.
Hopefully he’s pulling a Mamić in Swansea and milks the club dry.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the house.
The UK government will probably give him fair value for it, in order to house migrants with taxpayer money.
Sunderland will be in PL next yr (they beat Sheffield U today)
Let’s see if they try to get Frigan again (they tried in Jan window)
Btw: Luka Sucic was completely anonymous again today (maybe’s he’s actually related to Baturina and not Petar? Would make more sense)
This may be being in denial but, given new coach and Modric together at club World Cup…if new coach finds him key and winning the thing…why wouldn’t Madrid sign him for the one year after it? Assuming he hasn’t signed anywhere by then if course
Stranger things have happened
This may be a controversial take, but I think the best place for Modric to play next would be in MLS. He would be treated well wherever he might land in US. Sure, he would have to travel to Europe for the remainder of the qualifiers, but he would already be in US when it is time for 2026 WC.
He would drop off like Brozovic did, and become useless for us.
If he goes to MLS, it would strictly be for money and comfort.
My issue w him going to Dinamo is he’s taking a spot from a younger player
Aren’t they buying Mudrazija ? What about Jagusic ? And Stojkovic if Baturina gets sold
Unfair on Jagusic and Stojkovic (and they’ll just be played out of position or limit their minutes or end up tier 2 on the B team)
One point on Saudi
To everyone’s astonishment Tuchel called up Ivan Toney (22 goals in 27 games Saudi) for England
So not everyone thinks it’s a complete joke (although Anonymous still thinks it is)
In moderation again.
Apparently, Inter may be interested in Modrić. Two different sources. I think the second is more convincing.
https://www.fichajes.net/en/news/european-giant-presents-great-offer-for-luka-modric-20250524.html
https://www.managingmadrid.com/2018/8/2/17644070/luka-modric-real-madrid-inter-rumors-2018
RIP Real Modrić.
What a 13 year run.
What is the best move for him to keep sharp for Croatia through WC ‘26?
Give me a break with all this modric hysteria. Stating we’re gonna have a set back without him is stating the obvious. He’s one of the best midfielders ever, however I’d like to point out even with the great Modric
We lost to turkey in 08 QF
Didn’t qualify for WC in 2010
Didn’t progress in out of group stage in2012
Embarrassed in WC 2014
Again eliminated in in Round of 16 in 2016
So In 5 available tournaments with modric before 2018 we didn’t win a game in the knockout stage. And in the games we did win which were 5 beetween 2018 and 2022
4 out of the 5 were in PK.
And then again we didn’t progress in 2024
There’s a lot of players still in Croatia we still are going to be better than the Poland amd Slovenia of the world and be less than the Frances and spains of the world just like we always have.
It’s a team game. Jim Kelly lost Super Bowls.
Croatia done great.
There are 10 other players on the field.
Ronaldo is considered one of the greatest of all time…and what has Portugal done with him at World Cups? Nothing.
They won one Euro tournament…but if it wasn’t for Portugal hiring Fernando Santos at Euro2016 (who is known for overachieving by playing anti-football)…then Ronaldo would be trophy-less.
Santos was more responsible for that Euro than Ronaldo was. Ronaldo was on the bench when they got the tournament-winning goal in the final against France too.
Same goes for Messi.
He won nothing for Argentina other than a bought-off World Cup where he promotes Saudi Arabia and the Middle East non-stop in exchange for a PK every single game during that tournament. He did better than Ronaldo…but come on, Messi is arguably the best of all time.
Modric grabbing a silver and bronze medal at the World Cup 2018 and 2022 (with a mediocre coach and zero help from FIFA/refs/others) is just as impressive.
That being said…I agree with you that it’s no big deal that Modric leaves.
We have been playing very poorly for a year now (with Modric playing full 90 minute games).
I don’t think we’d be any worse by removing him from the equation.
We are wearing him down, and he’s visibly making a lot of mistakes out there (losing balls in dangerous areas).
He doesn’t play 90+ minutes per game for Real Madrid, so I don’t know why Dalic thinks it’s a great idea to have him out there for 90 minutes (game in and game out).
Plays him a full 90 minutes during our 2-0 victory against France in Split, then poor Modric can’t go on when the game goes into extra time in Paris (in the second leg). Terrible load management.
If Modric played a more conservative role for us (like he did at Real this season) then he’s truly a valuable asset to us.
Right now, he’s still good…but this kind of over reliance on him hurts us a bit too, and we simply haven’t been playing good football at all in these past 12 months.
Modric has played his last La Liga game for Madrid. He was substituted around the 87th minute and was given the guard of honour. Modric hugged it out and took it all in before he went to his family. Poor guy was holding the tears back and even Ancelotti. Wow. Sad. It will be even more upsetting when he steps down for the National Team.
I believe once he steps down the National Team it will take awhile for us to get that player quality again since the youngsters need experience to develop.
Also, Toni Kroos came from the bench to give him a hug. What a player those two were for Madrid with Casemiro!
That was great.
Let me reiterate what a disaster this is for modric and the nt.
Despite what maminjo says…and i get it he hasn’t been in high level lockerooms and around high level athletes like me that he may not understand the human aspect as well as I do.
Modric was being beautifully preserved for us in a jar of comfort at madrid. That jar is broken. The personal toll at his age will be extreme and wear him down further
Maminjo keeps championing the quality of the underperforming injury sucic cousins when over the last year modric has still been our best midfielder and probably player.
I’ve highlighted this repeatedly despite it being a sad state of affairs for Croatian soccer
I respect Maminjo’s knowledge, but not sure where the Sucic worship nor the Modric meh comes from. Modric is our best player still. Sorry!?
He is our best player in spurts. He’s not the best out there for the full 90 minutes like he used to be.
He’s being relied on too heavily.
Last game against France (both games) he lost a lot of dangerous ball in front of our box. Makes a lot of mistakes, but at the same time, pulls a lot of genius moves.
The messy Poland game (3-3), the two Scotland games (both of which we lost despite what VAR says), the easy losses to Portugal…
Honestly, Kovacic was probably better in most of those games for us with his relentlessness. Modric was great in the 1-0 Poland win. Petar Sucic had a great couple of games in that UNL run too.
It’s been a mixed bag of performances between our midfielders. Not just “Modric and friends” like people continue to believe.
Madrid received a penalty but Mbpabbe took it instead of giving it to Modric? That was strange
I’m OK with that. Not a fan of romantic statements for the sake of it. Play the game as you would normally play it.
Watching the start of the Madrid game with Modric. Both Ancelotti and Modric are holding back tears while coming out of the tunnel. The commentators mentioned how Modric is the most decorated Madrid player with 28 trophies.
Also, the commentators are questioning where Modric can play next since he is getting old and he needs to finds competitive minutes to stay fit for the World Cup.
The crowd is chanting Modric! Modric! Modric!
I do wonder if Madrid did win the champions league or any title this season if Modric would have extended another year? Maybe Ancelotti would have stayed one more season? Also, whose decision was it to reject a contract, Xavi Alonso or Perez?
They could have used Modric to teach the younger players on how to improve their careers but Im sure some younger players were getting frustrated that their playing time was getting cut short because of him? It makes you wonder if there is any players on the National Team Who might be frustrated with Modric
They had a giant shirt of Luka Modric on the pitch before the match. it is nice that Madrid is giving him a send off. Most Madrid legends dont get that!
The commentators did mention something that TheTruth said yesterday. They were talking how difficult it will be leaving Madrid with team mates he knows and the life style he has been used to more than a decade.
Wasn’t that captain guy from Arsenal supposed to replace Modric at Real years ago?
Just couldn’t do it.
I remember my friend laughing at me for suggesting when Modric went to Real that he was a better player than Ozil.
I believe it was Odegaard? He was supposed to be the future for Madrid but ended up going to Arsenal. Although, there was an interview that he did where he mentioned Modric helped him a lot when he first came to the club and how talented Modric is.
Wow what a disaster for the nt. Sadly we still hugely depend on modric. But he’s going to be 40 and is now fragile. The added stress of finding a new club, new home, changing his kids school, his wife needing to make new friends, going into a strange lockeroom with new teammates and trainers (likely not as good as the madrid ones) will extract a heavy toll on him. Furthermore playing in a new place will also extract that toll as he’ll have to adjust to unfamiliar territory. It was like we were delicately preserving modric in a glass jar over in madrid as it was the perfect comfort place and kept him playing just enough at a high level that he could contribute to the nt. That has all changed and will be much tougher on him
Just look at lebron. Lebron knows he could leave LA and get much better championship odds…something he has done many times before…but he won’t do it because at this age its too tough to pick up and leave. I mean just look at how modric did in his last club move when he arrived to real and played like a bust.
Why would Modric move/disrupt his wife and kids from Madrid ?
Perisic (London), Rakitic (Sevilla), etc wives and kids ain’t moving around
btw: did you see Totnum won Europa with only 28% possession ? Sit back – score on the counter – then bunker down/really low block for the rest – that’s what wins Championships/Cups (not holding majority of possession)
He’s just trying to elicit a reaction.
Modric isn’t as impactful on the National Team as he used to be and (aside from the France game in Split) we’ve been terrible since the beginning of Euro 2024.
Modric could easily still be dominant in Serie A (by joining a team like Milan) or he could go back to Dinamo.
The problem for him is whether he wants Champions League football, as both those teams are not going to be there next season.
I would still prefer that he comes back to Dinamo anyway, and plays in a reserve role for the National Team. Remain fit, and save his energy for the last 30 minutes of every game for us.
wait till jaga gets to your spurs
From Maminjo’s mouth to Boban’s ears
Boban 750k salary cap !
All the C-list foreign losers will leave (and none will join going forward)
Room for youth to progress to first team (like it should be)
Win win win for the NT
Also if Dinamo B team (competing in 2nd tier) DZ could have 2 teams in 1st tier w/in 12 months
x.com/CroatiaFooty/status/1925866344823620091
Best news I’ve heard all week!
No more Mmaaee…no more Kanga…all gone (almost).
Weirdly enough, nobody is talking about Theophile-Catherine leaving yet.
If that guy is still at Dinamo next year, honestly, I don’t know what’s going on, lol.
Luka Modric, what a true gentleman on & off the pitch,
What a role model for all the young Croatian football players, & in general all Croatians around the world.
Be proud my Croatian friends, loved him, very sad news.
You haven’t seen the last of Modric, he will want to repay your passion & support you all given him
Modric has enough money, so the best option is returning home to Dinamo.
He can help them in Europe and also help vatreni qualify for the WC.
Haven’t you figured it out yet ?
Let Anonymous explain
This is Brazil’s revenge for us kicking them out of last WC
Here’s how it went down (pretty strategic from the favela boys)
They r still pissed we kicked them out in 2022 (and petrified of facing Modric again at WC 2026)
So they threw 10m at Ancelotti (all of a sudden for 1st time ever Brazil gets a foreign coach (despite 99% of Brazil wanting to stick to Brazilians) and make him the highest paid int’l manager ever) BUT it was predicated by some artificial deadline that they want him after La Liga ended AND before the Club World Cup started
The real reason is if Ancelotti stayed through the Club World Cup – the renewal of Modric’s contract would have fallen under his purview (and he would have kept him for another year)
But instead – Ancelotti leaves – Alonso comes in (yes, I know he said he wants Modric to stay but that’s just to avail himself point blame at the club) and now all of a sudden RM aren’t renewing him (after Modric has been clear for last couple of yrs he wants to end his career there and play at WC 2026)
Pretty nasty stuff from Brazil to knife Modric like that
Hopefully this fires up Modric for one more year and for the WC 2026
A bit sad he couldn’t stay one more season but, with that said, how many players can say they spent 13 years at Real Madrid and captained the team at the age of 39?
Best midfielder to ever do it. No question.
Madrid never allows legends on the player’s terms. They did it to countless players like Casillas, Raul and so many more. Luka needs to go to another champions league contender that want him solely for depth. Bayern? Inter Milan? Hell even Man city could use him in FA Cup games, league cup and as a fill in when needed. He needs to maintain full fitness at a high level if he wants to have a decent World Cup.
I followed Real these past years because of him and enjoyed it a lot. Another season would have been nice but eventually we have to let go. It’s a shame because while we may produce talented players who could rival him, to rival the career he had and the Balon D’or are not things we realistically should expect to come easily again. He also didn’t have tattoos, didn’t spit all the time, and carried himself with decency and kindness which I always appreciated.
This is sad news he could have stayed one more year to come off the bench and to give the younger generations some lessons. If they had made a deeper run in the Champions League I am sure the story would have been different.
I would love to see Modric at Inter next year or even AC Milan
Let’s hope, that would be great for him
Yeah I think Milan was his team growing up.
It would be better for us if he played in Serie A or if he just came back to Dinamo.
I read somewhere that Dinamo was not on his radar, but that could just be wrong.
Well, if Dinamo doesn’t win the HNL then I believe that.
There would be no Champions League football for him at Dinamo, and Modric still has a lot to offer when it comes to playing in that tournament.
He left it all out there for HNS and Real Madrid. He owes nobody. Let’s see if he has enough “juice” for one more World Cup run and then he can take over HNS and take over the next generation of talented Croatian kids. I have a sense with Luka in charge, our best generation of HNS is coming up.
Great memories following his whole Madrid career.
Amazing 13 years there.
Kind of glad I don’t have to pull for Madrid anymore to be perfectly honest…
My heart wants him at Dinamo but I wouldn’t mind him in MLS if only for a chance to watch him play live in North America a few times.