It was the day after the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley, and Manchester United’s heads were still spinning from an evening on the Barcelona carousel, as Sir Alex Ferguson famously called it.
Ferguson came up with that phrase before the 2009 final in Rome, but two years later, Barcelona were even better. Their 3-1 win at Wembley was a complete performance, and their domination of the midfield was mesmerizing. “No one has given us a hiding like that,” the United manager said.
Rather than trying to find a way to turn the carousel off, Ferguson was considering constructing his own. He had an idea to upgrade his own midfield, so he picked up the phone and called Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp.
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“The day after Manchester United lost to Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley in 2011, my dad received a call from Sir Alex Ferguson. He wanted to sign Luka Modric,” Jamie Redknapp revealed in his Daily Mail column in 2018.
“Xavi and Iniesta had raised the bar for midfielders. The best had to be players who could take the ball off either foot, dribble and pass through the lines. Having seen just how impressive those two were against United, Sir Alex identified Modric as the player to take his team forward.”
Modric would have made a difference to a midfield that was more workmanlike than anything in that United side, but the biggest issue was the identity of his current club. Ferguson and chief executive David Gill had just about had their fill of dealing with Daniel Levy and Spurs.
This was three years after Dimitar Berbatov’s painfully protracted move from White Hart Lane to Old Trafford, and Ferguson was reluctant to keep dealing with Levy. He memorably detailed that transfer in his 2015 book, Leading.
“That whole experience was more painful than my hip replacement,” said Ferguson. The Scot was keen on Modric and with Paul Scholes retiring he made the Croat his top target.
Chelsea also pushed hard to sign Modric in the summer of 2011, having two bids rebuffed. He eventually stayed put at Tottenham for one more season. In that final campaign in north London, Ferguson heaped plenty of praise on Modric.
“Scholes and Modric are both intelligent footballers,” he said. “They both influence their teams as well so it is a reasonable comparison.
“I don’t think they are identical players but they have the same qualities in terms of controlling a game. Their passing consistency is good and the one thing people underestimate about Modric is that he has terrific stamina.”
In the summer of 2012, Modric finally left Tottenham, joining Real Madrid rather than United, who moved for Shinji Kagawa instead. A popular player at Old Trafford but not someone who could have reinvented the team in the way Modric could.
What’s more, according to Rio Ferdinand on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel, Modric was keen on coming to Old Trafford and making history in Manchester.
“I remember speaking to him,” said Ferdinand. “I said, ‘Are you leaving [Tottenham]?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I think I’m going to go’ but he wasn’t sure at the time where. I said, ‘Listen, you’ve got to come to United, man.”
“He said: Yeah, listen, I want to be the first Croatian to play for Man United. I want to be that guy, can we make it happen? But it didn’t happen.
“I spoke to David Gill and the manager [Sir Alex] at the time had already agreed with Shinji Kagawa I think it was – I think that was the year, I’m sure it was.”
In 2013 Modric said he had been flattered by United’s interest in him as he discussed his journey from Tottenham to Real Madrid and his relationship with Carlo Ancelotti.
“Ancelotti wanted me already,” he said. “One year ago at PSG and in 2011 at Chelsea. But then Andre Villas-Boas came and Tottenham did not want to give me up.
“I also knew of the interest of the United and even if the transfer did not materialise, the public appreciation of a great like Sir Alex is a big pride for me.”
Had Ferguson and Gill decided they had the stomach for the fight in 2011, then perhaps they could have landed Modric. Had they done so, he might still be running that midfield now.
A dozen years after his move to Madrid, he made history with Los Blancos on Saturday night, becoming the oldest player to ever play for the club at 39 years and 40 days. Six Champions League victories and four La Liga titles are among 27 major trophies at the Bernabeu, not to mention the 2018 Ballon d’Or.
Modric is Madrid’s history-maker rather than United’s.
