Robert Kraner
Croatian football club Dinamo Zagreb have finally sold the last part of their world class trio. Last summer they sold two of these in Eduardo Da Silva, who moved to Arsenal, and Vedran Corluka who joined Sven Goran-Eriksson’s revolution at Manchester City.
Recently the third brilliant Dinamo Zagreb player was sold and will continue his career away from Croatia. Luka Modric moved to the home of football, England, to join London club Tottenham Hotspur.
The whole of Croatia thought that with the transfer fees received for Da Silva (£8.5M) and Corlucka (£8M) Dinamo had hit the jackpot. However, the transfer of Modric has put even these two sales in the shade. Luka Modric has cost Tottenham Hotspur a huge £16.5M.
The receipt of such a large fee has produced a high level of excitement in Croatia, so much so that even politicians became involved. President Ivo Sanader has even proposed changing the law to allow transfer sales to be taxed. Currently Dinamo, classed as an organisation of the citizens, does not have to pay taxes. You don’t have to be a maths genius to work out how much money in tax the government has lost out on.
The 22 year-old Modric’s dreams have come true with the move to London. Everyone who knew little Luka when he was still living in a small village near the fifth biggest city in Croatia, Zadar (which lies on the coast of the Adriatic sea) weren’t surprised at the level the youngster has reached. Luka hasn’t only loved football, he has practically lived it.
"You should have seen him running all the time when he was so little, we didn’t ever see him walk!" said his neighbour. In his school days he often stayed with his grandparents about 10 kilometeres away from his home, but that didn’t stop him running to a field near his house to see if anyone there was willing to play football. And if there wasn’t, he picked up his ball and ran back to his grandparents house.
Modric was focused on the game from such an early age that even being rejected by his favourite club, Hajduk Split, did not make him lose faith. Modric stayed strong and moved to Croatia Zagreb, Hajduk’s biggest rivals, when he was 16.
Many a young player would lose faith at being loaned out to a Bosnian club, but Modric accepted the offer from Zrinjski Mostar and performed very well in a league that can sometimes be very physical. So well in fact that at just 18 he was considered as one of the best players in the league.
This loan spell didn’t help him get into Dinamo’s team though, and he was soon loaned again, this time to Inter Zapresic, a club near Zagreb which yo-yo’s between the 1st and 2nd division. Modric led the team to the upper reaches of the table, and the most ironic fact was that Dinamo were fighting relegation in the same league that very year.
Small young Modric finally got the chance to play for the cult club Dinamo, and that meant a steep curve of improvement. The club took many trophies and this year had a lead of almost 20 points over their rivals Hajduk. Modric became captain of the team, broke into the national side, and was part of the team that broke English hearts at Wembley as the Croatians qualified for Euro 2008.
Now though, Luka Modric will capture the hearts of English football fans everywhere when he plays in the Premier League next season.
