Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric has been offered a new role at the club by head coach Carlo Ancelotti as the 38-year-old’s current deal is set to expire this summer, reported The Athletic on Tuesday.
Modric will turn 39 in September this year and his game time has been reduced greatly as the Croatian isn’t part of the starting XI and is often used as a substitute.
Madrid have opted to feature youngsters in the team as the midfield of Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham starts in almost every match which has turned Modric into a bench player.
As per The Athletic, Ancelotti has offered Modric to join his coaching staff in the role of a mentor. The Croatian is likely to decline this offer as he believes that he can still compete at the top level for one more year.
Since Madrid are not willing to renew Modric’s contract, it is likely that Modric will head to the Saudi Pro League. He was offered a mega-money contract by a league side last summer but the Croatian declined.
Earlier, Spanish news outlet MARCA reported that Madrid’s long-standing target Kylian Mbappe signed a contract with Los Blancos till 2019.
"In negotiations, there were disagreements over image rights but Real Madrid managed to get an agreement with Kylian Mbappe on terms lower than the 2022 offer based on Florentino Perez’s instructions. For the club it was essential not to blow up their wage structure,” Marca reported.
As per renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano, the terms of the departure are yet to be fully agreed upon. PSG and Mbappe will communicate together about the latter's exit in the upcoming months.
Remember, Madrid have been trying to sign Mbappe since his AS Monaco days in 2017-18 but the player decided to join PSG on a €180 million deal.
The deal was likely to happen last summer after the 25-year-old sent a letter to the French club saying that he would not extend his contract till 2025.
