Mr Agile - Luka Modric

So Modric is 33 years old. He'll be 34 at the start of next season.

It's obvious that he is not going to be starting next season.

Who does real madrid have to replace him?

I would like to see either Valverde or Odegaard in his position.

James can also fit the profile.

lol, if he is at the club he is starting, if he leaves to Inter the club would like to sign Eriksen with a year left on his deal. If not it's not unlikely that James assumes that role. valverde or odegaard are no where near good enough to start for us.

I would say, at this point Ceballos is the heir appointed and if not him, it's Isco (if he gets out of dog house).

Odegaard, if he comes back is competing against Vinicius, Rodrygo, Asensio and Lucas for a backup forward spot. James too, if he comes back, but his issue will be also the import ratio.

Valverde will likely be on squad, but in a backup role.

But as Nick says, who says Modric won't be back!!!

Odegaard won't ever play CM, he's an attacking midfielder. Thing with Valverde is that he should be loaned out if he's not going to be given good playing time next season for one reason or the other. If James comes that's only more reason for Odegaard not to come yet, and with all those numerous options, Perez may pass on Hazard.

Also, Isco and Ceballos are attacking midfielders, we need physical peeps in midfield. Years ago i used to have the pipe dream that Isco could play as an interior, i'm done with that delusion. Not ideal even if we did have a good tiki taka system. We'd do good to let both of them go imo.

Ceballos is more a CM like Zidane in terms of style (his idol btw).  He's a pace setter that transitions the ball to the attacking players, including the AM.  

In a perfect world, you'd have Casemiro as the DM, Ceballos as a CM and a proper AM (like Ozil in his prime for example).  Of course, then the front 3 can't be all strikers.  you'd need a winger who tracks back to help (like Vasquez).

I like managers who stop looking at names but see how the pieces fit together.

My ideal world post winter setup:

Courtois
Carvajal-Varane-Ramos-Marcelo
Casemiro-Ceballos
Eriksen-Vinicius (give the kid a chance; Vasquez is always there in case)
Icardi

There is an article out today saying Isco issue is more a question of fitness. May be true or not, but I wouldn’t assume Isco is out, at least for now.

I say that in regards to Sports’ desired lineup, thinking of Isco in the spot you showed Eriksen.

I also think the 2nd half of this season will be auditions for several players re next year possibilities. That list includes Isco, Asensio, Vinicius, Ceballos, Llorente, Odriozola, Reguilion, Valverde, plus whoever comes in January!

Speaking of Eriksen, I really hope the club is following him closely and not some teenager playing in the Brazilian league. His contract expires next year with Tottenham if I'm not mistaken.

Madrid should fight tooth and nail for his signature. The team has only a few WC players left and the squad is looking more and more like a midtable team with every passing day.

his contract expires in 2020 and if we can learn anything from Spurs with alderweireld, they dont sell at a rebate even if it means losing the player.

i would expect them to play ball here though, its stupid to allow a player to walk free

I don't think we can say Odegaard will never play CM, Modric was an AM afterall. Odegaard is 19, I think we sometimes forget that. He may be asked to play different positions in the future.

As for Eriksen, he is an immense player. More important to Spurs than Kane IMO, and because he has been deployed deeper than when he played for Ajax I think he can be a great Modric replacement. Just worried about the 150m price tag they are parading in the media.

Maybe we can offer them Modric and Bale back for Eriksen and Kane?

sportsczy wrote:Maybe we can offer them Modric and Bale back for Eriksen and Kane?

Sure. That's like me offering you to switch our cars. Only you have a Ferrari and me a Renault 5.

On a serious note, I really think Kane is unattainable for Madrid. Eriksen, on the other hand, can be bought given his contract situation. We really should go all out for him.

I'd rather get Thiago from Bayern than Eriksen, a true world class CM. Eriksen operates mostly in the final 3rd

Valkyrja wrote:I'd rather get Thiago from Bayern than Eriksen, a true world class CM. Eriksen operates mostly in the final 3rd

Thiago is made out of glass, though. Don't think I can handle another Bale situation.

Thimmy wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:I'd rather get Thiago from Bayern than Eriksen, a true world class CM. Eriksen operates mostly in the final 3rd

Thiago is made out of glass, though. Don't think I can handle another Bale situation.

Verratti is my second choice but he's unattainable I guess. Ndombele? Aouar ?

We also have James and Kovacic on loan. Fede Valverde is more of a Kroos type rather than a Modric replacement.

I'm not very familiar with Ndombele and Aouar, but I recently read that Barcelona want Ndombele. Abidal has been Barcelona's director of football since the summer, and he seems to have a good eye for young talent.

Di Stéfano, Kopa, Ronaldo, Zidane, Figo, Owen, Cannavaro, Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric

Congrats to Modric

Congratz to Modric, he deserves it. Couldn't have been a nicer guy that broke the duopoly

I can happily say i was alive to see my club wins 4 in 5 CLs and see my favorite player of all time lift the Ballon D'Or, WATTBA.

I wouldn't say it is deserved, he was amazing for half of the time, and dog shit the other half. I think others who were more consistent across the voting time had stronger claims.

Like?

Ronaldo and Griezmann I would put above Modric's claim.

People I think who would have had about as much of a claim would be Varane, Messi, and Mbappe.