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Jose Mourinho Has Called Luka Modric About Incredible Tottenham Return

Jose Mourinho Has Called Luka Modric About Incredible Tottenham Return

Reports in Spain say the Spurs boss has phoned the Ballon d'Or winner about north London return.

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Jose Mourinho has phoned Real Madrid star Luka Modric about returning to Tottenham in 2021, according to news reports in Spain.

The 35-year-old Ballon d'Or winner's contract with the Spanish champions end in June and, if he wishes, Modric can start negotiating with other clubs from January. The Croatian playmaker spent four years at Spurs before signing for Real in 2012 for £30 million.

Mourinho was manager of Real at that time so clearly knows all about Modric's strengths. And, according to Spanish media outlet El Chiringuito TV, Jose has contacted Modric directly to discuss a potential Tottenham return.

If he chose to return to north London, the midfielder would be following in the shoes of Gareth Bale who came back to Spurs - albeit on loan - after winning four Champions League titles while at Real Madrid.

Rafael van der Vaart, who played alongside Bale and Modric at Tottenham, joked that he was also willing to put the band back together.

"Guess I should get back in training to complete the return of the trio," tweeted the retired Dutch international.

"I did some gaining not so much training. Jose, you have my number, right?!"

Peter Crouch replied to Van der Vaart with: "Don't leave me out boys".

So clearly it's a full-on 2010/11 reunion and we can expect Mourinho to be ringing up Roman Pavlyuchenko, Wilson Palacios and Verdan Corluka in the coming days.

Or, more realistically, the Tottenham boss just sees terrific value in Modric as a free transfer. While the Croatian is now in his mid-thirties he relies on his craft and guile rather than athleticism, so could well have a few good years in him yet.

He's started started all but four of Real's 19 matches this season and there's no indication that he is suddenly unwanted at the Bernabeu.

One reason for his departure in 2021, however, could be that Real tend to only offer 12-month contracts to veteran players. It's a policy which is apparently behind the stand-off regarding Sergio Ramos's contract (also set to expire in the summer).

Modric claimed that he was "too old to go back to Tottenham" when asked by FourFourTwo earlier this year. But we all know Mourinho can be incredibly persuasive when he wants to be.

Will we see the return of Modric scheming in the Spurs midfield in 2021? Or is a new destination more likely if he leaves Real Madrid? Let us know in the comments.

All imagery: PA Images

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Topics: Spurs, Football News, Jose Mourinho, Tottenham Hotspur, Football, Premier League, Real Madrid, Luka Modric

Alex Reid is a writer at SPORTbible who’s previously strung words together for FourFourTwo, Boxing News, The Guardian and, yes, Cruise International (it’s about big ships, not Tom). Interests range from football and boxing to real sports like WWE and darts. He is not a cage fighter.

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@otheralexreid