‘I can only say great things’ – Luka Modric admits Tottenham was the making of him

Luka Modric has said that the decision to join Tottenham at a young age proved to be just what he needed, admitting that he will always be thankful to Harry Redknapp for believing in his talent.

While Modric has now sealed his legacy as one of the best players of this generation, having won countless trophies at Real Madrid, it was not always obvious that the midfielder was going to go on to achieve what he did.

In fact, he did not have the smoothest of starts to his time at Tottenham after arriving at the club from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008.

Luka Modric fondly looks back on his Tottenham career

The 38-year-old admitted that it was Redknapp’s arrival from Portsmouth later that year that was the catalyst to help kickstart his career at White Hart Lane.

He told Optus Sport: “We had a poor start to the season, both myself and the team as a whole. After the new head coach came in, things started to improve. I can only say great things about Harry. He’s a great coach but what impressed me even more is how he is as a person – a phenomenal man.

“He helped me a lot while I was at Tottenham until I left. So, I’m forever grateful and I’ve happy memories working with him. To have someone who really believes in you, who sees your potential, of course, that helps. I need that, especially after my initial struggles. We definitely played the most beautiful football in England.”

Modric remarked that he could not have scripted his career any differently, admitting that the four seasons he spent at Spurs proved invaluable in helping him become the player he did.

The Croat added: “The dream was to play in Italy or Spain because it was difficult for us to make it to England as not many Croatians played over there.

“Coming to Tottenham was the right decision. If I could’ve written the script for how my career would develop, I couldn’t have written it better than how everything’s turned out.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The way Modric was dominating games in his final two seasons at Tottenham was a pleasure to watch. Particularly in his final season at White Hart Lane, we dictated proceedings in every single game that we played, owing to a midfield trio of Modric, Scott Parket and Rafael Van der Vaart.

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