The Latest on Luka Modric and Real Madrid: An Analysis of Real Madrid's Potential Midfield

According to Spanish media, Croatian player Luka Modric could join Real Madrid shortly. Spanish newspapers and TV channels aren't very reliable (remember Neymar's case?), but after André Villas-Boas admitted Modric could be sold "if an understanding is reached," the midfielder now appears to be closer than ever to José Mourinho's team.

The Spanish sources, however, can't agree on how much Real Madrid will be paying for him. While El Confidencial wrote of a 42M€ payment, El Mundo understands that Real Madrid will try to throw either Nuri Sahin or Lass Diarra around to lower the price to 35M€.

And yesterday, TV stations Cuatro and Telecinco gave their own version. The first one reported that Nuri Sahin will be involved and Telecinco closed the operation at a 40M€ price without any player exchange. La Sexta, on the other hand, said that Tottenham Hotspurs are not interested in Nuri Sahin.

See after the jump what's in stake with this signing.

Mourinho stated many times during the past year that he is excited to see what Nuri Sahin can bring to the table after a full preseason working with the team, so it is strange to see the Turkish player involved in these rumors. His first year in the club was very disappointing, but it might be worth giving him another chance this year. If he returns to his old Bundesliga self, he could very much substitute for Xabi Alonso in many games to give the Spanish player some time to rest. He is, after all, one of Real madrid's oldest players and can't afford to start every game of the season anymore. His second half of the year wasn't good enough and it's clear that if Sahin had been ready, he could have enjoyed more of Xabi Alonso's minutes.

Granero was important at the end of the season, and Mourinho will probably want to keep him, though his position is unclear, like always.

Unlike Nuri Sahin, Lass Diarra has been hesitant when it comes to staying with the club. Last year, it seemed that he would be sent away (to Tottenham) and didn't even travel to the preseason stage in the States, but he played a consistent amount of minutes in the first half of the season. Something happened in the last few months, however--he wasn't injured but Mourinho stopped trusting him. Therefore, if trading him makes Modric's signing a better deal, then this seems like a good option for the club.

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