When Luka Modric arrived at Milan, few expected that a player who had already conquered the Champions League, La Liga, and the Ballon d’Or would add something entirely new to his legendary résumé. And yet, as the latest recognition from Italy confirms, Modric has accomplished a milestone in Milan that he astonishingly never reached during his long spells at Real Madrid or Tottenham.
Modric’s rise from Tottenham to Real Madrid turned him from Premier League gem to global icon. At Spurs, he became one of England’s most technically gifted midfielders. In Madrid, he became a European soccer immortal.
His legacy there includes five UEFA Champions League titles, four La Liga triumphs, the 2018 Ballon d’Or — breaking Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s decade-long duopoly, and a reputation as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation.
Yet despite all that success, one detail quietly persisted through 203 months spent across England and Spain: He never once won a domestic league Player of the Month award. Not at Tottenham. Not at Bernabeu. Only at Milan would that finally change.
Milan: Where Modric becomes the center of everything
Ohmygoal‘s graphic comparing his three clubs highlights an unexpected truth:
- Tottenham: 0 MVP awards in 49 months
- Real Madrid: 0 MVP awards in 154 months
- Milan: one award in just two months
It’s at San Siro where Modric stopped being the elegant conductor behind bigger stars and instead became the centerpiece of the team’s identity. September 2025 was proof: three matches, three victories, and the Croatian veteran at the heart of all of them. His vision, tempo, and leadership reshaped Milan’s structure under Massimiliano Allegri.
He doesn’t merely support the Rossoneri—he transformed them. The club’s revival has matched his own late-career resurgence. At 40 years old, Modric controls the rhythm, links phases, and elevates every player around him with a calm mastery only decades of elite-level experience can produce.
Modric had won the Serie A MVP of the Month award, an impressive feat he had never achieved at any of his previous clubs. The Italian Association of Professional Footballers confirmed it, with its official statement praising the Croatian maestro.
This award—voted by fellow professionals—was no sentimental gesture. No player in Serie A during September had more touches (748) or completed more passes (559). He added a goal against Bologna and assisted Milan through a perfect month.
Veteran whose brilliance endures
What makes this milestone so poetic is how it fits into Modric’s soccer story. At Tottenham, he was loved. At Real Madrid, he became a legend. But at Milan, he has become something else entirely: a timeless symbol of excellence still capable of reaching new heights.
Where other veterans fade into rotation roles, the 40-year-old star has become the tactical lighthouse of an entire project. He has stepped into Milan not as an aging star, but as Allegri’s on-field general—solving pressure, accelerating transitions, and inspiring the young Rossoneri with every carefully weighed touch.
