Luka Modric, Real Madrid and eternity
Luka Modric aspires to eternity at Real Madrid.
This could be the case in view of the information that the Croatian player wants to continue with the Madrid team next season, at the age of 40, a more than respectable age for a football player and one that is dizzying.
Having passed the age of thirty, many players are already glimpsing the final stretch of their careers, and even more so in a team as demanding as Real Madrid, a club that is required to win every title up for grabs every year and practically every official match it plays.
The case of Luka Modric is special, as he continues to perform at a high level for the Whites in the 2024-2025 season, having already turned 39. The numbers back him up, even more than the previous season. The statistics indicate that the Balkan player has played the most games in all competitions within the Real Madrid squad, counting matches with his club and the Croatian national team, with 51 games, 45 of them with the current Spanish league and Champions League champions.
Last year was a good one for Modric in terms of titles, with a spectacular double of La Liga and the European Cup with Real Madrid, although he was a regular substitute for practically the entire season in a midfield that included Germany's Toni Kroos, sublime in his last season as a professional, the Frenchmen Aurelien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga, the Uruguayan Federico Valverde and the Englishman Jude Bellingham, who in his first season in white gave an exceptional performance both in defensive and organisational tasks and even in front of goal.
After Kroos's retirement, it seemed that there was one more place in the starting eleven for this year, but the arrival of Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, considered by many to be the best striker in the world, meant that coach Carlo Ancelotti opted this season to play with three forwards in view of the good performance of Brazilians Vinicius and Rodrygo, leaving one place in midfield vacant.
Despite the difficulties and the competition, the Italian coach has relied much more on Modric this year than last because it seems that the years have not passed for the Croatian midfielder, who continues to display his usual good football, with excellent touch and ball control in equal measure, together with a level of physical fitness unusual for players of his age, even more so considering his position on the pitch.
Modric has played 45 matches with Real Madrid this season (27 in La Liga, 12 in the Champions League, 3 in the Copa del Rey, 1 in the Spanish Super Cup, 1 in the European Super Cup and 1 in the Club World Cup), as well as 6 matches with his national team, scoring 4 goals and making 3 assists with the Whites this season, very remarkable numbers for a 39-year-old footballer still in March with a long way to go until the end of the season.
Now, reports are coming in that Luka Modric wants to continue wearing white next season, as pointed out by sports journalist and player market specialist Fabrizio Romano, who on social network X has indicated that ‘Luka Modric wants to stay at Real Madrid and continue for another season’. ‘His wish is to stay at the club and be part of the squad by signing a new contract until June 2026. Once again, Modrić's first choice and first option is always Real Madrid,’ said the Italian sports journalist.
🚨⚪️ Luka Modrić wants to stay at Real Madrid and continue for one more season.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 18, 2025
His desire is to stay at the club and be part of the squad by signing new deal until June 2026.
Once again, Modrić’s first choice and first option is always Real Madrid. pic.twitter.com/Rc3pJom5yP
And the love story between Luka Modric and Real Madrid has remained intact since the Croatian signed for the Madrid team in 2012, when he was recruited for the Chamartín club by Portuguese coach José Mourinho.
Since then, all the coaches have relied on Modric as a starter in a midfield that many Madrid fans consider to be the best ever: Casemiro, Kroos and Modric. Protagonists of a golden age along with other players such as Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, who won many Champions League titles in a short period of time. In fact, the Balkan player took the legendary number 10 shirt at the Whites, leaving behind the 19 he wore when he arrived from Tottenham Hotspur in England, the club he joined after leaving Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, where he had excelled from a very young age.
Modric already has six European Cups to his name, a record he shares with the legendary Real Madrid player from the 60s, Francisco Gento, and his Madrid teammates, Dani Carvajal, Nacho Fernández and Toni Kroos (the latter won five with Real Madrid and one with Bayern Munich, unlike the rest who won them all with the Madrid team).
From José Mourinho to Zinedine Zidane and even Carlo Ancelotti, the latter in his two spells as Real Madrid coach, they have all placed their trust in the Croatian international, who has an exceptional track record with Real Madrid: 6 European Cups, 6 Club World Cups, 5 European Super Cups, 4 Spanish Leagues, 2 Copa del Rey and 5 Spanish Super Cups, together with the 2018 Ballon d'Or obtained for being considered the best player in the world that year. All this after 579 matches played to date for Real Madrid in 13 seasons, a long career full of sacrifice and hard work for a player who did not arrive as a star, but who has achieved this status thanks to his performance. A sporting story of self-improvement, even more so if one takes into account that as a child Luka Modric survived the tragic Balkan war that destroyed so many lives at the beginning of the 90s of the last century when the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia took place.
Since last season and during this one, Luka Modric has adapted to a substitute role, when previously he was an undisputed starter every year; but he continues to play a very important role in the team and to play quite a few minutes, even in 2025 more than last year.
His intention to continue seems clear, as does Real Madrid's that the white number ten should also remain in the team.
It seems that Modric is approaching eternity with Real Madrid, having already achieved glory a long time ago.
