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When West Brom tried to sign Luka Modric

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West Bromwich Albion have been through numerous transfer windows over the years as the Midlands club have been in and out of the Premier League and Championship.

As a result, numerous players have made moves to the club either on loan or permanent deals.

One player, however, that the Baggies were reportedly keen on signing that didn’t end up at the Hawthorns is Luka Modric.

According to the Birmingham Mail, the Croatian was on Tony Mowbray’s radar in the summer of 2007 and would have made a move to bring him to the Hawthorns had they secured promotion to the Premier League, which they ultimately didn’t.

After scoring 22 goals and providing 21 assists in 73 appearances for Dinamo Zagreb, the midfielder did end up making a move to England.

In a deal worth a reported fee of £16.5m, Modric signed to Tottenham Hotspur in the 2008 summer transfer window.

Having played in 160 games for the north London club, scoring 17 times and delivering 26 assists, the player found himself on the move again in 2012, this time to his current club Real Madrid.

During his time in Spain, the 36-year-old has scored 31 goals and provided 70 assists in 429 appearances, winning four Champions League titles among many other trophies.

The former Spurs star has also picked up several individual awards such as the Ballon d’Or and UEFA’s Best Player in Europe, both in 2018, the same year he played in the World Cup final.

This season has seen the former Baggies target earn himself an overall performance rating of 7.24 from WhoScored for his efforts in the Champions League, making him Real’s fourth-highest rated player.

This highlights just how capable the veteran still is of playing on the big stage against top opposition.

Would you liked to have seen West Brom sign Modric?

Labelled an “extraordinary” player by Carlo Ancelotti, Modric has undeniably gone on to have an incredible career since leaving England.

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to say that missing out on potentially signing the £275k-per-week midfield maestro has been an almighty howler from the Midlands club.

Had they been able to reach the Premier League and secure the Croatian’s signature when they were looking at him, there’s no telling what sort of superstar that he could have been for the Baggies.

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