Tottenham Hotspur have sold some high-profile players over the years, chairman Daniel Levy cashing in lucratively but unable to add to his sole slice of silverware since purchasing a stake in the club from Lord Alan Sugar for £22m way back in 2000.
That triumph, a 2-1 League Cup final win in 2008 after defeating Chelsea in extra-time, signalled progress and tantalised further honours down the line, but Ange Postecoglou is currently seeking to rebuild the club in 2023 after several years of inconsistency, the search for trophies dating back to that historical result.
Spurs have been a major player in the Premier League for some time and have fought and failed across some big moments – coming up short in the title race as Leicester City prevailed back in 2015/16; losing League Cup finals against Chelsea and Manchester City; falling short at the final hurdle in the Champions League against Liverpool, which is perhaps the bitterest of them all.
But, there is hope that Postecoglou is the man to lead the march toward prosperity, the Australian crafting an exciting team despite the blow of Harry Kane's £100m transfer to Bayern Munich back in August.
The departure of Tottenham's record scorer was a bitter pill to swallow, but it's not the only time the club has waved goodbye to a superstar, with Gareth Bale transferring to Real Madrid for a world-record £85m back in 2013.
Bale enjoyed riches in the Spanish capital but he was not the only Galactico to have thrived throughout this golden era of Los Blancos' glittering history, with Luka Modric presently enjoying this twilit stage of his career knowing that he will go down as one of the finest players of his generation.
Luka Modric's Real Madrid career
Modric's time at Tottenham served as the launchpad for a career for the ages, but it would be difficult to make a compelling case against his £30m transfer to Santiago Bernabeu in August 2012, where he has won five Champions League, three La Liga and two Copa del Rey titles as well as the Ballon d'Or, Best FIFA Men's Player and UEFA Player of the Year in 2018.
Would he have achieved all this in the English capital? Candidly, probably not. Modric, now 38 years old, has only started 11 matches in the Spanish top-flight this season as Carlo Ancelotti's side move seemingly inexorably toward the trophy, also among the favourites to win a record-extending 15th Champions League title this term.
In total, the 172-capped Croatia legend has amassed 516 appearances for Real Madrid, winning honours in their hoardes and starring at the very heart of one of the game's greatest modern midfield triumvirates with Toni Kroos and Casemiro.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Passing
Finishing
Key passes
Tackling
Through balls
Despite his ageing years, Modric remains one of football's elite technical stars, ranking among the top 9% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 1% for shot-creating actions and progressive passes, the top 4% for passes attempted, the top 14% for pass completion and the top 12% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref.
It's quite evident that he would do a job under Postecoglou's leadership, bringing leadership and fluency and a celestial technical touch to give the Lilywhites the edge.
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He's shown his class at the club in the past, arriving as something of an unknown commodity way back when.
How much Spurs paid for Luka Modric
Tottenham signed Modric from his homeland for a £15m fee back in 2008, beating the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle United to his signature.
Sir Alex Ferguson once said that the Croatian "could play in any team" as he wreaked havoc and pulled strings from the engine room at Tottenham, utterly mesmerising across his 160 displays in Spurs white, bagging 17 goals and 25 assists.
Journalist Liam Canning hailed Modric as “world-class” for his exploits with Croatia across recent years but, truthfully, the seeds were planted right from his days at Tottenham, talent rooted in tenacity, application and erudite match intelligence.
What a player. What memories. To think that he is still performing for Real Madrid to this day, 38 – alongside prodigious talents such as Jude Bellingham, who was five years old when the sandy-haired dynamo was purchased by Harry Redknapp all those years ago – is truly exceptional.
Just imagine if he still played for Spurs. Imagine what could have been.
Modric would thrive for Ange
Postecoglou's Tottenham system is built on innate tactical understanding and interchangeability in role and movement. A the core, though, a high-class operator is requisite for perfect balance.
There's an old saying in football that the engineers in the centre of the park go unseen: watch the game, they shall evade your gaze; watch them, and watch the magic unfurl.
Modric possibly doesn't quite fall into that category, for he has dazzled with his defence-splitting passes, his thumping strikes, and his relentless recycling of possession, but he certainly makes things happen, wrenching openings oblivious to the eyes of his peers.
This level of mastery would allow the likes of Heung-min Son, Richarlison and co to thrive at a standard inconceivable, surpassing even the prowess of James Maddison, who has widely been regarded as one of the Premier League's standout stars this season after transferring to Spurs from Leicester City for £40m back in July.
Maddison does rank among the top 7% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 1% for shot-creating actions and the top 4% for progressive passes per 90, showcasing his first-rate playmaking ability, but he's no Modric.
Modric can do it all, sit deeper, influence behind the frontline, occupy space box-to-box. He is ubiquitous on the pitch and would not only prove to be a creator above Maddison's level, but an anchor eclipsing Yves Bissouma's tough-tackling style; a conductor trumping Rodrigo Bentancur for his cleverness in possession, and without; a multi-functional ace to leave Pape Matar Sarr quaking, so far is the distance between exciting talent and the true pedigree of one of the very best.
Tottenham have the tools to mount a revival over these coming years, spurred on by Postecoglou's vision, but make no mistake: Modric would be the key component to ensure illustrious triumph returned to N17, even at his maturing age.
