Luka Modric has admitted that Harry Redknapp played a "very important" role in helping him go all the way to the top in his career. Joining Tottenham in the summer of 2008 from Dinamo Zagreb, it wouldn't be long before he worked under Redknapp after Juande Ramos was dismissed two months into the 2008/09 campaign.
The Croatia international would go on to flourish under the experienced manager, with his outstanding form in north London leading to a big-money move to Real Madrid in August 2012. Going from strength to strength at the Santiago Bernabeu and helping Los Blancos to five Champions League titles and three La Liga triumphs, Modric, ahead of facing Liverpool in Europe's premier competition on Tuesday evening, has opened up on his time at Tottenham and what Redknapp used to sing to the Tottenham players about him.
“We played 4-4-2 at Tottenham. I was on the left wing. Gareth [Bale] was behind me, imagine," said the Croat on Rio Ferdinand’s Between the Lines. "And then Harry [Redknapp] one game, when he came after six/seven games he came to Tottenham and he decided to put me in the midfield like a number 6 with two midfielders.”
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On Redknapp's influence on him, he added: “Very important, great guy, great coach. He gives every player so much confidence in him, that is amazing. I remember when he put me in the middle, after Gareth changed from left-back to left-winger, we had Aaron Lennon on the right and the two strikers had a lot of speed in the team. I remember he used to sing ‘give the ball to Luka’. He makes you feel important. He gives you so much confidence.
"These four years that we played with him, that he was our coach, it was so good. We played so well. Unfortunately we couldn’t win something but because your team [Man Utd] at the time were very strong, other teams were very strong and we couldn’t but we played some great football at the time.”
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