Real Madrid legend Luka Modric has said that he will be leaving the club after the Club World Cup, thus bringing the curtains down on a career in which he has won nearly 30 trophies. This includes a record six Champions League trophies and four La Liga titles. Modric will say goodbye to the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday where Real Madrid play their last home match of the season against Real Sociedad in the Spanish league. The Club World Cup is set to be played from June 14 to July 13 in the United States.
“The time has come. The moment I never wanted to come, but that’s football, and in life everything has a beginning and an end… On Saturday I will play my last match at the Santiago Bernabeu,” Modric wrote on Instagram. “Playing for Real Madrid changed my life as a football player and as a person. I am proud to have been part of one of the most successful eras of the best club in history. Although, after the Club World Cup, I will no longer wear this shirt on the pitch, I will always be a Madridista.”
Modric arrived at the club from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012. While he was initially seen as a surprise buy, with some sections of the Madrid fanbase questioning the signing, Modric quickly established himself in the Real Madrid starting lineup as a reliable playmaker who also had an incredible work rate defensively. He was an integral part of the team that won the club their long-awaited 10th Champions League crown in his second season.
When Zinedine Zidane took over as coach, Modric became the centre piece of the squad that won three Champions League titles in a row between 2015-16 to 2017-18. After his 2018 World Cup exploits when he guided Croatia to their first final, Modric won the Ballon d’Or for the best player in the world to break a 10-year duopoly between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I arrived in 2012 with the illusion of wearing the shirt of the best team in the world and with the ambition to do great things, but I couldn’t imagine what came next,” he added. “Playing for Real Madrid changed my life as a footballer and as a person. Throughout these years I have experienced incredible moments, comebacks that seemed impossible, finals, celebrations and magical nights at the Bernabeu… We have won everything and I have been very happy.”
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