Revealed: Why Barça didn't sign Luka Modric when they had the chance

Revealed: Why Barça didn't sign Luka Modric when they had the chance

Bojan's father was working as a scout at Barça and revealed they turned down the Croatian midfielder

Bojan Krkic’s father, who worked as a scout for Barcelona, has confirmed on the programme Què t'hi jugues! on SER Catalunya that the Blaugrana had in their hands the option to sign Luka Modric in 2008. He added that it was a signing for the future and that the club was only thinking “short-to-medium-term.” Since 2012-13, Modric has played for Real Madrid and has a contract until 2020. 

“I saw it clearly, also the case of [Frank] Ribery (…) we had it in our hands. Modric was a player with a winning mentality, but the club weren’t thinking about the future, only in the short-to-medium-term,” he said. 

Krkic, whose son now plays for Stoke City in the Premier League, added: “Our contact in Croatia spoke wonders of Modric before he signed for Tottenham. I was working for Barça then and they sent us various DVDs with Dynamo Zagreb and the Croatian national team.” 

The problem is that Barça, during that period, counted on “Xavi, Iniesta, Toure and Busquets [in the B team]. They didn’t contemplate the option of signing.” Krkic remembers that he “consulted with Boban, the ex-Milan and Croatia player, to get his opinion and he told me [Modric] would be a star in the future.” 

Bojan also revealed that “we made Modric travel [here] to get to know him. We were chatting in the Princesa Sofia with him and his girlfriend. We took a coffee. He left a great impression. He was speaking fluent English and he came across as very intelligent and switched on. Very calm.

“He was one of those players that didn’t like coming out in the press much. And he’s demonstrating it with Real Madrid now. He’s a discrete and humble player. I saw that clearly.” 

Krkic says that Modric, now 31, still “has two or three years left at the top level” and that “he paid for the coffee, he told them to charge it to his room.”

Modric eventually agreed to join Tottenham in April of 2008 after the Barça deal didn't come through. After four years in London he left for Madrid, where he has become an important part of Zinedine Zidane's side. 

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