Modric 'wanted to be the first Croatian to play for Man United'

Rio Ferdinand revealed that he tried to lure Luka Modric to Manchester United in the summer of 2012, before the Croatian legend ultimately joined Real Madrid for £30million from Tottenham.

The ex-United defender told his FIVE YouTube channel that he attempted to convince the club to sign Modric, only for the record Premier League winners to spend £17m on Shinji Kagawa instead.

Modric spoke of his pride at taking Croatia to another World Cup semi-final, but speculation has swirled over his international future at 37, although Zlatko Dalic is hopeful to hold onto his captain for a little while longer.

Modric was thought to have been keen to remain in the Premier League in the summer of 2012, although a move overseas was Spurs' preference, and according to Ferdinand he had aims to become United's 'first Croatian' player.

'I spoke to him before he went to Real Madrid, because that’s what I used to do, I was the player agent, I was agent Rio before I retired,' Ferdinand said. 'Any player that was available or was coming up I used to think that I could somehow get into them.

‘Even Thiago Alcantara at Liverpool, I spoke to him before he left Barcelona to go to Bayern Munich and that almost happened but we signed [Marouane] Fellaini instead.

'But Modric, I remember speaking to him, I said, "Are you leaving [Tottenham]?" and he said, "Yeah, I think I’m going to go" but he wasn’t sure at the time where he was going.

'I said, “Listen, you’ve got to come to United, man” and he said, "Yeah, listen, I want to be the first Croatian to play for Man United, I want to be that guy, can we make it happen?"

'But it didn’t happen. I spoke to David Gill and the manager [Sir Alex] at the time had already agreed with Shinji Kagawa I think it was – I think that was the year, I’m sure it was.

'Or they already had irons in the fire with another player and they did that deal and then Modric went to Madrid and the rest is history.

'But I never imaged he’d go on to do what he’s done. What a player!'

While Modric went on to become one of football's all-time greats, winning five Champions League and four Club World Cup titles - as well as the 2018 Ballon d'Or - Kagawa had a somewhat more modest career.

In just two years on the books at United before returning to Borussia Dortmund, he managed just six goals and 10 assists in 57 appearances, although he was part of the side that won the Premier League in 2012-13.

Modric notably drew praise from Ferdinand for his role in Los Blancos' miraculous Champions League comeback against Chelsea, with the eventual competition winners defeating the Blues 5-4 on aggregate.

He as hailed in particular for an outside of the boot cross, with Ferdinand claiming: 'This pass from Luka Modric is why I lost my voice today! That's illegal, that. I was screaming, Luka, Muka, whatever his name was. Phenomenal.'