Modric crowned UEFA player of the year
News & Trends •
the award recognises the best players irrespective of nationality playing for a club within the territory of a uefa member association during the past season1 real madrid and croatia star luka modric on thursday received the accolade of uefa player of the year in monaco beating his former teammate cristiano ronaldo and liverpools mohamed salah to the prize1 i can say for sure that this has been the best year of my career collectively and individually and i am enjoying the moment added the 32-year-old who was announced as the winner of the prize after thursdays draw in monaco for this seasons champions league group stage1 modric started out at dinamo zagreb and then had four years with tottenham hotspur before real prised him away six years ago1 his success here after he was named the best player at the world cup confirms that he should be among the favourites to win the ballon dor a prize dominated by ronaldo and lionel messi over the last decade1 salah was in attendance at the grimaldi forum on thursday but ronaldo now with juventus was not there1 im sorry that he couldnt be here. i am sure there is a reason why he couldnt come. i would have liked to see him. hopefully we will see each other soon somewhere else said modric of his old colleague1 modric has also been linked with a move away from real this summer with inter milan said to be keen on him but he claims to be more than happy in the spanish capital1 as i have always said i am at the best club in the world where i want to be. i am not just happy but very happy to be here1 reals achievement in winning yet another champions league last season was further recognised as modric also won the uefa award for the best midfielder of last season1 his clubmate sergio ramos was named best defender while real shot-stopper keylor navas won the best goalkeeper prize1 ronaldo in his absence was awarded the prize for best striker chosen by champions league and europa league coaches from last season and journalists1 im very happy to receive this great prize. i have worked hard for this to get to the highest point possible said modric who starred in the real side that won the champions league for the third year running before also leading croatia to the world cup final1 danish international pernille harder of german club wolfsburg won the uefa womens player of the year prize1 wolfsburg lost to dominant french outfit lyon in the champions league final in kiev in may1 there was also an award for david beckham the former manchester united madrid and england star collecting the uefa presidents award for his achievements in the game and his work since retiring as a player1 201718 luka modri real madrid1 201617 cristiano ronaldo real madrid1 201516 cristiano ronaldo real madrid1 201415 lionel messi barcelona1 201314 cristiano ronaldo real madrid1 201213 franck ribry bayern1 201112 andrs iniesta barcelona1 201011 lionel messi barcelona1