Man City nearly signed Luka Modric for £10m

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Manchester City Life President Bernard Halford has claimed the club nearly signed World Cup Golden Ball winner Luka Modric for just £10 million in 2008.

That summer was a sea of change at the Etihad, with the likes of Robinho, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta all joining the club.

Sheikh Mansour also completed his takeover of the club but, just before that deal went through, previous owner Thaksin Shinawatra had spoken to Halford about a ‘big signing’.

Halford told the Daily Mail: “When Dr Shinawatra was here we could have signed Modric.

“Shinawatra was very excited – he had come to me to say we were about to make a big signing, one of the best players in the world, and that’s who it was.

“[Vedran] Charlie Corluka had lined it up for Modric to come to us, but when the money was needed, Shinawatra’s money was frozen in Thailand.

“He came to me on the first day of the season to say he had to resign, so we didn’t get Modric.

“It would have been for around £10million – and now he’s in for the Ballon d’Or.”

The delay in finances ultimately ended up costing Man City the signing, with Modric going from Dinamo Zagreb to Tottenham Hotspur for just under £19 million.

However, there was a silver lining to this particular cloud, with City signing Spanish playmaker David Silva just two years later.

Silva has since gone on to become one of the club’s most-revered and most-decorated players, playing 349 times for City in all competitions to date and winning three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and three League Cups.

Manchester City’s next game is against Fulham after the international break, on September 15.

The post Man City nearly signed Luka Modric for £10m appeared first on Squawka News.



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