Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona all tried to sign him, but since Real Madrid won the race for Federico Valverde he hasn't looked back.
Now, Penarol vice-president Rodolfo Catino backs the talent - who he remembers impressing in the youth ranks from the age of 10 - to equal Modric's achievements.
'Valverde is going to win the Ballon d'Or,' Catino told As. 'He is one of the great players that this land has produced, along with Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan.
'I don't know if it will be this year or in the next two years, but he will win it because he has an elegance that nobody else has. He understands football and all that that means.
'Madrid put their faith in Fede because (Real scout) Juni Calafat had seen something special. They paid the five million, plus there were other variables.
'It has been shown that they were right in their decision.'
Valverde himself revealed that he travelled to London Colney aged 16 to train with Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal - before Arsene Wenger blew the chance to sign him.
The midfielder is added to a list featuring Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and Kylian Mbappe of players the Frenchman nearly brought to North London, and fans could be made to rue that missed opportunity as the talent develops.
'Arsenal invited him to visit their facilities when he was 16 years old. We agreed to it, although we told him that he was not going to play because we were afraid he may get injured.
'But Arsenal insisted that he should play and we agreed to an insurance value of six million euros in case of any injury. A few months later they came to Montevideo to sign him, but their offer was very low and we did not reach an agreement.
'Manchester United and Barca also saw him. United withdrew quickly and they lost out on a great player for not making that financial effort.'