Luka Modric claims Arsenal icon almost ended up signing for Real Madrid instead

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There’s a rich history of Arsenal players who’ve also played for Real Madrid.

Mesut Ozil is a modern-day Arsenal great, Nicolas Anelka was amazing for the Gunners for a short period, while Martin Odegaard is the current Arsenal captain.

Ozil and Odegaard are two brilliant playmaking midfielders who played for both Madrid and Arsenal, and according to Luka Modric, Real Madrid almost signed another big-name playmaker who was fantastic for Arsenal.

Who is the best player to play for both Real Madrid and Arsenal?

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Indeed, speaking in an interview with Slaven Bilic, Modric claimed that Madrid were looking at signing Santi Cazorla at one point before Los Blancos ultimately made a Jose Mourinho driven move for Modric.

Real Madrid nearly went for Santi Cazorla

Modric told the story of how his move to Real Madrid came about.

The midfielder claimed that before he moved to Spain, Madrid were looking at David Silva, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla.

However, Jose Mourinho gave an ultimatum, claiming that Modric was the only player he wanted, and ultimately the deal got done.

“At one point Real started thinking about other players like Silva, Mata, Cazorla,” Modric said.

“However, at that moment Mourinho was respected, and president Florentino liked him and still does.

“Mourinho said: “Either Luka or nobody.” And that made the difference.

Santi Cazorla stats for Arsenal

Santi Cazorla was an option for Real Madrid before Luka Modric arrived, but, luckily for Arsenal, that deal didn’t go through.

Cazorla would end up in north London that same summer, and he became a true favourite at Arsenal throughout the 2010s.

Cazorla’s stats for Arsenal were fantastic for a player in his position, despite the fact he was so often hampered by injury.

Make no mistake about it, Cazorla is one of the most talented players to ever grace the Emirates, and if he’d managed to have a bit more luck with injuries, he would have gone down as a bona fide Arsenal legend.