World Cup 2018: Top 10 players who could win the Golden Ball

#5 Luka Modric

Croatia v Brazil - International Friendly — Real Madrid's enabler

Oh, Luka Modric. What can you say about this man? The Croat is a genius with a level of intellect that perhaps challenges Professor X/Charles Xavier of X-Men. The former Tottenham Hotspur star has been the enabler for Madrid since his arrival triggered the Blancos to win four Champions League titles in five years.

And the 32-year-old midfielder was a key member of the team in each of their conquests. In 26 games in the league this season, he provided 6 assists and scored a goal.

His stats might not have much meat in it, but his job isn’t to be at the end of the moves anyway – he is the one creating them like weaving a tapestry with the simplest of threads.

Croatia have a great midfield consisting of the likes of Mateo Kovacic and Ivan Rakitic – and for them to function as a proper unit, Modric will have to be at his finest.

About the author

Umid Kumar Dey has been writing at Sportskeeda since January 2015, focusing mainly on football, cricket and WWE. In that time, he has gone on to become one of the most-read writers on the website.

His work has also featured on Goal and he has also edited a book. Currently, he works as a freelance writer who aspires to become a data scientist in the field of sports.

You can follow him on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/TheFutbolJoker

Know More

Edited by Arvind Sriram