Real Madrid ready new Luka Modric contract with Croatian keen on Inter Milan transfer

Wanted | Inter Milan are keen to bring former Spurs star to Serie A
Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Ben Hayward7 August 2018

Real Madrid remain convinced Luka Modric will stay at the club, despite interest from Inter Milan in signing the Croatia midfielder this summer.

Modric arrived back in the Spanish capital on Monday following an extended break after helping Croatia to the World Cup final last month and the 32-year-old is set for talks with the Real hierarchy on Wednesday.

Modric is expected to tell Real that it is his desire to leave after six seasons in Spain and join the Serie A side.

Modric moved to Real Madrid from Tottenham in 2012 for a fee of around £30 million and has helped the Spanish side win the Champions League four times in his six seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Croatian, who won the Golden Ball for the best player at Russia 2018, is a fan favourite in Madrid and a player who has often spoken of his happiness in the Spanish capital, even suggesting he could see out his career at Real.

Photo: REUTERS
REUTERS

“You never know what can happen, but I have two years left on my contract,” he told SVT Sport in April. “I am happy here. I have always said I would like to finish my career at Real Madrid if that is possible. And if not, I see myself playing in the United States.”

However, Modric is 33 next month and the midfielder has been tempted by Inter’s offer of a four-year deal worth around €10million per year after tax (£8.9m), plus the possibility of two further seasons at Jiangsu Suning (whose owners have a 70 per cent stake in Inter) in China.

Reports in Italy claim Inter will offer €15m (£13.4m) to Real Madrid to take Modric on loan for the 2018-19 season and the pay €25m (£22.4m) to make the move permanent next summer.

Madrid, though, will not be tempted by such a deal and Real president Florentino Perez said last week: "Modric is not leaving Real Madrid. He is not leaving unless someone pays the 750 million euros of his release clause and not a euro less."

Perez is notoriously stubborn with wantaway players seeking a pay rise, but the club chief is prepared to offer the midfielder improved terms and knows he will face a backlash if the popular midfielder is allowed to leave this summer.

The construction magnate intervened at the last minute in 2015 to stop defender Sergio Ramos from joining Manchester United because another club legend, goalkeeper Iker Casillas, had already left the club that summer.

Madrid have since added three more Champions League crowns to their trophy cabinet, but there is some unrest already this summer among fans following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus and the resignation of coach Zinedine Zidane.

Photo: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

Losing Ronaldo and Modric in the same summer would represent a disaster for Perez and Real have no intention of dropping their asking price for the Croatian as they did with the Portuguese. And if the midfielder is set on making on a move, he will made to publicly say that he wants to leave.

Madrid do not believe it will come to that and new coach Julen Lopetegui said on Monday: “The president answered clearly and I do not have anything more to add. I do not have the slightest doubt that he will continue to be happy playing with us.”

The situation has been further complicated by the fact that Modric’s international team-mate Mateo Kovacic, who was signed as something of a long-term successor to Luka in 2015, is definitely looking to leave Real this summer, with Chelsea reportedly closing in on a loan move for the 24-year-old.

Lopetegui had said on Monday that he wanted both Kovacic and Modric to stay, with the two players in his plans to face city rivals Atletico in the Uefa Super Cup in Tallinn on August 15.

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