Modric’s replacement

As I write this article, we still don’t know if Luka Modric will be extending his contract in the summer of 2024 for another season. I for one hope he does, I didn’t want Guti to leave when he did, I didn’t want Ozil to leave when he did, I’m not the best at moving on from my favourite players. It’s pretty handy that Perez is rather more ruthless than me in this regard, I think I’d make a great president but this ( along with maybe the money) would be my biggest challenge if I was appointed the next president of Real Madrid.

Now, for the purpose of this article and in general it makes sense to think about the future of our midfield giving that Kroos is 34 and Modric is 38. I’m of the opinion that the midfield area is currently the strongest position in our team. We have a great blend of ages, experience, creativity, energy, defense and goals. When Modric 1 day leaves, the passing creativity of our team will take a big hit and I do worry about this because it’s the quality that Tchouameni, Camavinga, Valverde don’t excel at in the way Modric does. Valverde and Camavinga usually create more with their dribbling and pace and ability to beat a press, not so much with their vision. Camavinga has shown flashes of being able to make that killer pass around the area of the oppositions goal but often when he tries to make that pass it doesn’t come off. Now he is of course still so young, and he could develop these skills more as he gets older, but going into next season if Modric were to leave, I do think we could have even more difficulty breaking some teams down if we don’t replace him with a creative passing type of a midfielder. Ceballos could possibly have been this guy but it also looks like he could be off this summer too.

Nico Paz is a player I’d love to see get more minutes towards the end of the season, to see if he could be a player that could take that free midfield spot next season but that seems as likely as Chelsea being shrewd in the transfer market. It’s hard to be critical of Carlo Ancelotti when he is so good, but 1 of the rare disappoints I have of this season, is with the injuries we’ve had, I’d have liked Paz to have had more opportunities. He seems more of an attacking, goalscoring midfielder from the little i’ve seen of him than a like for like Modric replacement, but if he doesn’t get any opportunities we will never know.

Obviously replacing Modric will be impossible, its more the profile of player I want us to sign/ promote to take his spot in the squad. I don’t think we can afford to let both him and Ceballos go without reinforcing the position. Our team has always had physically powerful players for the last decade and more, and thats certainly still the case but we have also had mixed in with that creative geniuses with an eye for a pass, Modric, Kroos, Ozil, Alonso, Guti, I worry our team will be lacking that soon.

Some possible replacemenets

Thiago Almada- Nationality: Argentina- Age 22- Club: Atlanta united

Fabio Miretti- Nationality: Italy- Age 20- Club: Juventus

Arthur Vermeeren- Nationality: Belgium- Age 19- Club: Atletico Madrid

Martin Baturina- Nationality: Croatia- Age 21- Club: Dinamo Zagreb

Now I confess, I don’t watch endless amounts of football, I can only feel strongly confident of my opinions when talking about Real Madrid, therefor I’m not the best scout and can’t say I feel strongly about any of these options as I haven’t seen enough of them play. They are just some young midfielders I’ve seen play over the last 1 year that I remember thinking ” ah they look decent”. I’m sure each would have their own problems, doing well in the American league for example is a whole different thing to competing in La Liga. And I imagine Juventus won’t be particularly keen to let go 1 of their most talented youngsters.

Still I do hope the next midfielder the club signs, is more of the creative type.