Luka Modric: Madrid bound and down

Luka Modric wants out of North London. That's no secret and he's been the main culprit in revealing it since practically the moment he arrived at Spurs. It's evident that he's ambitious of course and he wants trophies so Spurs was never going to be the most obvious long-term answer. He's made a name for himself and more importantly has drawn the attention of some hefty admirers. Money is an issue as well don't kid yourselves and under Daniel Levy Spurs were never going to break the wage scale to keep Modric happy. A deal with Chelsea might have materialized last year but it fell through and now it looks like the final destination might be to the whiter-half of Madrid. It's what this article by Kevin Rendall is all about.

It's a good analysis. The intangibles are all in place for Luka Modric to leave. Andre Villas-Boas is looking to revamp his squad bringing in his own brand of players, ones that will be more beholden to his directives. He'll need to fund them on his own as Spurs are unlikely to compete for the marquee signings and Modric is their most marketable player.  Chelsea is out primarily because they have obviously already moved on by signing both Eden Hazard and Marko Marin in attack. PSG may have weaseled itself into the equation recently, and they are certainly more attractive since buying Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the idea floated by the papers that Modric might consider them a viable option is silly. It's too little too late. The deal was done long ago. What's left are the details.

Real Madrid are the perennial big-bad of the transfer market. They outspend all-comers. Florentino Perez does require a marquee signing for the masses. It's true, but the reason that most people give for it is that he does so to fuel the marketing machine that affords such an opulent business model. That's only half the point. He does so to feed the beast. Even he has to play the popularity game. He's no owner and even he needs to offer bread and circuses for the masses to legitimize his Presidency. What he does have is Marca. The assumption is that Marca is the Real Madrid propaganda wing, Pravda for merengues, and that's true to a certain extent. There are well-respected journalists who don't tow the party line but there is a definite slant and they know their readership, but as shown by how quickly the paper turned on predecessor and rival Ramon Calderon Spain's leading sport's daily is very much in Florentino Perez's corner.

The free-radical in the equation though is Mourinho. Dealing in hypotheticals Mou has been enamored with Luka Modric. I say hypotheticals because in every story that refers to the love-affair that Mourinho has with the Croatian playmaker "sources in Spain are mentioned" and frankly if there is an exclusive contact to Real Madrid the nexus runs through Marca and on into Florentino Perez's office.

Sure, the prevailing wisdom states that in the power struggle between former General Director Jorge Valdano and Mourinho that the Portuguese tactician won himself exclusive non-interferenc pact with Perez over sole control of Real Madrid. If you believe that, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. That's not denigrating Mou's position at the club. He offers the one real chance to break the Barcelona hegemony (that's considering he hasn't already done so) but never forget that Perez is a very powerful political figure in Madrid. He runs the club. His influence was felt even when he wasn't President.

So wherever the Modric signing began, whether in Florentino Perez's office or otherwise (and I believe the former), the idea has obviously become a reality.  Final question: where to put him? Look towards Kaka.

It's obvious by the exclusion of Kaka from the traveling squad to the U.S. that the Brazilian has overstayed his welcome in Madrid. Can they rid themselves of his contract and more importantly can they get another club to pay him his wages? He won't go to England. What club in England can afford his contract and more importantly, with the niggling injuries that have plagued him since leaving AC Milan, the physicality of the Premier League is counter-intuitive both for him and any prospective buyer; at 31 what club is going to give him his last big payout? PSG? I think Carlo Ancelotti helps in the decision, and signing Zlatan as I've stated before is a plus, but the fact that Milan have given away both Zlatan and Thiago Silva is an obvious and Silvio Berlusconi needs a publicity coup; Milan it is I think.

That leaves Khedira, Ozil, and Xabi Alonso to contend with, plus in descending terms of interest: Di Maria, Granero, Callejon, Diarra and Sahin. Where does he play? Yes, Mourinho's preferred formation is a 4-3-3 but when he was at Chelsea he had the luxury of a player like Claude Makelele to play his as the lone stopper or pivote. Xabi Alonso is a great player but he is not physical enough nor single-minded enough I should say to play that role by himself. You wouldn't want him to; he provides so much more in the counter-attack to ask him to play the lone pivote. So, Mourinho prefers the doble-pivote and that's why Khedira has been so effective for Real Madrid and for Germany. With two of the other remaining attacking options accounted for in Benzema/Higuain and Cristiano, then that leaves Ozil and Di Maria.

Di Maria looks like the most undone by the signing of Modric. Oh, he'll play (when he isn't nursing some injury) but the idea of Ozil and Modric interchanging along the wings and playing off of each other looks devastating on paper, but I said much the same last year about Sahin playing longside Alonso. You have to play the games, adapt to the culture, and most importantly adapt to Madrid both as a city and as a footballing institution. It is no mean feat to adapt to the Madrid lifestyle and to the "greatest club of the 20th century." Modric has it in him surely, but it's not a given that he's ready made for Madrid.