Archive for August 21st, 2007

Who Is Luka Modric? And does anybody care?

662 comments August 21st, 2007

Arsene Wenger on possible transfers before September 1st:

“I still feel I will do something if it comes up. I have not found anybody. Either they do not exist, or if you go into the market and want to buy someone tomorrow, it will be at a very high price.”

Perhaps it is the “high price” that is preventing Arsene Wenger from pursuing an interest in Croatian midfielder Luka Modric. Or perhaps it is the fact that he is now cup-tied in the Champions League. But links with the diminuitive playmaker will not go away, be they in English papers, the Croatian press, or on a variety of blogs.

It is a curious one. Modric is, from afar, a carbon copy of what we already have – he even looks a bit like a slightly uglier version of Czech maestro Tomas Rosicky.

Like Rosicky, Modric is capable of playing on the left as well as in the centre, in spite of being predominantly right-footed. He is an accurate passer with impressive vision and a good deal of flair. In 16 caps for Croatia, he has grabbed three goals, with an eye for the spectacular strike.

Online Gooner, who are about as reliable as a Tottenham defender, previously suggested the deal could be on hold until January. It’d make sense from Dinamo’s perspective – losing Modric and Eduardo in one Summer would be nothing short of disastrous.

Personally, I’m fairly confident that all the speculation about Modric has some reliable foundation. We know Arsene has a fetish for slight, skillful midfielders who don’t score many goals. But whether or not that means any deal will actually go through, we can’t possibly guess.

I don’t think Modric is the man we need. From what I can see, he wouldn’t give us something we desperately lack – attacking alternatives. Bringing Modric in for Hleb or Rosicky would essentially be replacing like-for-like. We need another power winger – a left-sided Eboue. But better. Arsene might claim such a player doesn’t exist, but I find that hard to believe. It’s no use me guessing who we might bring in – I wouldn’t have predicted the signings of Fabianski, Sagna, or Eduardo. Arsene

In other news, Arsenal have a go at Le Crossbar Challenge. Watch out for stunning displays of technique from Song, Senderos, and Walcott.

I’ll end with the compulsory YouTube compilation. It’s not hugely impressive, which can’t be a good thing:


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