Man Utd could have signed Luka Modric but opted for Shinji Kagawa instead | OneFootball

Rio Ferdinand has revealed how he tried to persuade Manchester United to sign 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric but they had already agreed to sign Shinji Kagawa instead.

Modric was in the process of leaving Tottenham in 2012 after four impressive years and Ferdinand thought he could lure the Croatian north to Manchester United to play with his old Spurs teammate Michael Carrick.

It would have been a phenomenal signing for United but the club already had other plans.

And Modric went to Real Madrid where he has won three La Liga titles and five Champions Leagues while playing over 450 games for the club.

But it could all have been different if Ferdinand had persuaded Manchester United to sign the Croat.

Ferdinand told his FIVE YouTube show: “I spoke to him before he went to Real Madrid, because that’s what I used to do, I was the player agent, I was agent Rio before I retired.

“Any player that was available or was coming up I used to think that I could somehow get into them.

“Even Thiago Alcantara at Liverpool. I spoke to him before he left Barcelona to go to Bayern Munich and that almost happened but we signed [Marouane] Fellaini instead.

“But Modric, I remember speaking to him, 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’. And 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.

“Or they already had irons in the fire with another player and they did that deal and then Modric went to Madrid and the rest is history.

“But I never imaged he’d go on to do what he’s done. What a player!”

Modric must now decide whether to retire from international football after being poor in the World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic said that Modric would make the decision on international retirement “on his own” but added that “surely the whole world would miss him if he retires from the national team, and I hope he won’t decide to do that”.

“Luka Modric showed he is not only a great player, he’s a great professional, a great sportsman,” Dalic said.