Ally McCoist has revealed he urged Rangers to sign Luka Modric from Dinamo Zagreb before he joined Tottenham.
Modric maintained his status as one of the best players in the world as he starred in Real Madrid’s comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16.
The former Spurs man, 36, did not let his age overcome him in the encounter as he and hat-trick hero Karim Benzema ran the show against the French giants.
But Modric’s career path could have been much different according to McCoist, who first set eyes on him when he was asked to scout Vedran Corluka at Dinamo Zagreb as Rangers assistant coach.
Alongside being impressed with the the full-back, McCoist also recommended that Rangers manager Walter Smith pursue a move to bring Modric over to Ibrox as well.
He told talkSPORT: “Dinamo Zagreb were playing Hajduk Split and Walter [Smith] sent me over to watch the game looking at the big boy [Vedran] Corluka.
“So I went over to watch the game, Corluka was fine, I came back and Walter asked me how it all went. I said: ‘Yeah it’s a good team and Corluka is a good player, you’d take him all day’.
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“But I also said: ‘I tell you right now, I don’t know how much money we’ve got in the bank account but there was a wee fella playing in the middle of the park, Luka Modric’.
“He just looked light-years ahead of everyone else on the pitch. I said: ‘Go and see him, and if you can get him gaffer he is unbelievable, out of this world’.
“So anyway, Walter picked up the phone and then put it back down. He said: ‘Nah forget it’.
“It was just too much for us, I can’t remember the exact figure but he was too much for us, and of course the rest is history.”
Rangers never managed to sign either Modric or Corluka, with the former joining Spurs for around £15 million (SkySports) while the latter secured a move to Manchester City before later transferring to N17.
Modric spent four years in north London clocking up 160 appearances (Transfermarkt) before sealing a £30 million transfer to Madrid in the summer of 2012 (BBC Sport).
Spurs Web Opinion
Modric continues to defy all the odds regarding his age and has demonstrated why he is one of the best midfielders in the world.
To think that he was at Spurs, albeit for a short period of time, is pretty nice to think about as the has gone on to become such an established name in world football.
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