Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Luka Modric will leave Real Madrid after the Club World Cup, the Croatian midfielder said as the club’s most successful player and the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner prepares to end a trophy-laden stint in Spain.
Modric, who arrived at the club from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012, has played almost 600 games for Real and won nearly 30 trophies including a record six Champions League titles and four LaLiga trophies.
His last match at the Bernabeu will be Real’s final LaLiga game of the season against Real Sociedad on Saturday and the 39-year-old said he would sign off after their Club World Cup campaign which begins next month.
“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.”
Having arrived for a fee of around 35 million euros ($39.50 million), the Croatian playmaker quickly established himself in the Real Madrid starting lineup and led them to 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.
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