Catalan giants, FC Barcelona rejected the chance to sign Real Madrid midfielder, Luka Modric in 2008 just before he signed for Tottenham Hotspurs.
Former Barca scout and father of the Blaugrana’s protégé – Bojan Krkic Sr. – made this revelation while speaking with SER Catalunya.
According to him, Barca could not sign Modric because they felt satisfied with what they had in the middle of their park – Yaya Toure, Sergio Busquests, Andres Iniesta and Xavi – which to them were enough to keep their success engine going. They were wrong. Xavi has since hung up his boots, while Toure left for Manchester City after a strained relationship with then coach Pep Guardiola. Only Iniesta and Busquests are left at the mesunque club.
“We had it our hands. Modric was a player with a winning mentality, but the club weren’t thinking about the future, only the short to medium term.
“Our contact in Croatia spoke highly of Modric before he signed for Tottenham. I was working for Barca then and they sent us various DVDs with Dinamo Zagreb and the Croatian national team.”
To make matters worse Luis Enrique’s side have struggled to replace Xavi and the team are increasingly cut short whenever Iniesta is absent – the latest being their miserable run of three wins in seven games during the skipper’s time at the treatment table. This calls into question the club’s bizarre decision to let Thiago Alcantara leave for Bayern Munich in 2013. Both Andre Gomez and Rafinha have been used in their captain’s absence but have always come short of filling the 32-year-old’s shoes.
Luka Modric on the other hand, went on to display impeccably for Spurs for four years before being snapped up by archrivals Real Madrid in 2012. The 31-year-old has won two UEFA Champions League titles, a La Liga title, two UEFA Super Cups and a host of other trophies.