Maybe using Chelsea’s name helped Daniel Levy and Tottenham finally convince Real Madrid to go ahead and not give up on the deal to sign Luka Modric for £33 million (including add-on fees), but the important thing is that this transfer saga is nearly over, with the Croatian flying to Spain in order to complete the move in the next 48 hours.

It seems like it’s been going on all summer, the constant back and forth between the sides. Modric’s mind was made up his mind after a successful Euro tournament (individually, not for his team, Croatia), knowing that the interest in him will renew once it’s over, hoping that this time Tottenham do agree to sell him. Last summer Daniel Levy promised him that if Real Madrid came a knockin’, he’d let him go.

So Real Madrid came, and Tottenham asked for £40 million. Real weren’t going to pay that much, but Tottenham took their time before dropping the price, hoping they can somehow convince the player to stay, but Modric preferred to skip the team’s flight to the Untied States, which kind of put everyone, including himself, in an uncomfortable situation, but also Spurs in a place where they knew they had to sell him.

Eventually, after agreeing and backtracking and agreeing again, just before Real Madrid were willing to give up on the deal and take their interests somewhere else (Axel Witsel?), Spurs finally agreed, seeing as the only good way out of the whole situation, as Modric wasn’t even training with the first team. Initially, it was suggested that Tottenham wouldn’t let Modric go before they find a suitable replacement for him in the middle of the pitch, but as of now, there doesn’t seem to be any new name arriving at North London.

For Real Madrid, it’ll be the first and only signing of the summer, hoping that the arrival of Modric will finally give them the player to help them retain possession against a team like Barcelona, which showed once again that at the moment, they’re simply better than Real Madrid when it comes to midfield and ball movement quality.

Modric has been with Tottenham since 2008, playing 127 Premier League matches, scoring 13 goals and adding 21 assists. It’ll probably take him a few weeks to get back into 100% match fitness, and Mourinho will be able to use him both as a holding midfielder or if needed a little bit more advanced up the pitch, even behind the strikers.

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