Adaptability key to De Bruyne and Modric’s success
ByDhiman Sarkar
May 27, 2025 09:44 PM IST
Their roles at Manchester City and Real Madrid changed over the years, not effectivity.
Kolkata: There is a Jose Mourinho connection between Kevin de Bruyne and Luka Modric who have adorned the clubs they are leaving this season. About Modric, Mourinho had no doubt and asked Real Madrid fans and the demanding Spanish media to be patient. At Chelsea, that was not what De Bruyne wanted to do.
n 422 matches for Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne has 108 goals and 177 assists. (AFP)
n 422 matches for Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne has 108 goals and 177 assists. (AFP)
Over a decade later, both would feel vindicated with their career moves. The numbers are staggering. Modric has played 591 matches for Real Madrid scoring 43 goals and making 95 assists. In 422 matches for Manchester City, De Bruyne has 108 goals and 177 assists.
They have 44 major trophies between them and that would be one way of measuring success. Pep Guardiola and Florentino Perez tearing up as De Bruyne and Modric said their goodbyes could be another.
Countless memories of these midfield maestros lighting up matches can be a third. That ball for Leroy Sane against Stoke City after winning possession in the midfield, the thunderous shot against Newcastle, the no-look pass for Raheem Sterling against Arsenal, the free-kick against Cardiff City that went under the wall and all those deliveries at the back post are some De Bruyne moments City faithfuls will remember. They will talk of him every time 2017-18 comes up when City logged 100 points as they will on recalling the treble in 2018-19. The agony of a Champions League final with an injured De Bruyne leaving in tears and the ecstasy of finally winning it in 2022-23 will feature in their conversations.
The outside-of-the-boot ball for Rodrygo – Slaven Bilic, the former Croatia coach and player, has compared it to Roger Federer’s backhand – the corner-kick from which Sergio Ramos equalised in what turned out to the be 10th Champions League title (Modric has won six of those) and the way he guided Real Madrid to victory against Celta Vigo in October are some Modric memories that will live on. And who knows what else as he is available for the Club World Cup next month.
“Irreplaceable,” said a poster at De Bruyne’s final match, a Manchester City faithful’s tribute to the genius with ginger hair. “Thank you. Legend,” said a tifo as Santiago Bernabéu bid goodbye to Modric on Saturday.
Erling Haaland’s first Premier League goal (against West Ham) came off a De Bruyne assist, the Belgian has 119 of those second only to Ryan Giggs and the most in the league since he joined in 2015. “This pass may be the best I got, because I only had to run around the ball and put it in the back of the net,” said Haaland. It is not different from what Modric says he has told Vinicius Jr: run and the pass will come to you. It did at Celta Vigo.
De Bruyne assisted 20 of Haaland’s 121 goals including 12 of the 84 he scored in the Premier League, as per “The Athletic”. If the numbers don’t seem “wow” it is because De Bruyne, 34 in June, was injured for chunks of last season and this (it is possibly one of the reasons why his contract was not renewed).
It seems ridiculous almost to remember how it started. The £55m City spent on De Bruyne in 2015 was deemed as a waste of money by many. The worst midfielder at Real, it was said of Modric.
Apart from technical ability which created possibilities that blindsided opponents, the willingness to have the ball while under pressure and the ability to choose the right play in telling moments (see examples above) De Bruyne and Modric could give coaches a rainbow of options.
De Bruyne started at City as a No. 10 under Manuel Pellegrini and switched to being a box-to-box midfielder, what he called “free eights”, when Guardiola took over. De Bruyne has played as left-side attacker, central attacker, right-side attacker (probably his most preferred position) and even false nine. In 2021-22, De Bruyne was City’s top scorer with 19 goals in 45 matches.
He could play one way when Erling Haaland was available and another when there was no targetman. De Bruyne was excellent in a 4-3-3 as he was in 4-2-3-1 where he would often start wide and drift inside. “He can play in four, five, six positions,” Guardiola has said.
Modric is what can be best described as a midfield allrounder. “What I noticed straightaway was his ball control,” Davorin Matosevic, one of his first coaches is quoted as saying in World Soccer (March 2017). “His touch was soft, velvety and precise.” Modric was seven then.
There would be times when his self-belief was shredded because he was small and frail. It would be rebuilt by Tomislav Basic, head of Zadar’s youth academy whom Modric called his second father. The boy who was frail has evolved into a tough tackler who would inspire Croatia to comebacks in the 2018 World Cup having won the Champions League in the same season. Enough to break the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly on the Ballon d’Or. “From you I have learnt perseverance, to wait for the moment,” Federico Valverde has said in his farewell message.
On contracts renewed annually since 2020, Modric’s role changed to one who needed to find solutions from the bench. Modric, 40 in September, featured in 56 matches this term. “He is still a fantastic footballer even if he is not a kid anymore,” Carlo Ancelotti said of the player who is only a year younger than Rodrygo’s father.
Departures mark the end of every season but this feels different. Because, to Trent Alexander-Arnold exiting Liverpool and Gary Lineker a show he hosted for a quarter of a century will be Modric leaving Real after 13 years and De Bruyne switching from City after 10. It can be a lot to process.
Jose Mourinho
Kevin De Bruyne
Luka Modric
Manchester City
Kolkata
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