Rio Ferdinand nearly convinced Luka Modric to join Man United back in 2012, but the club signed £17m flop instead

Rio Ferdinand has revealed how he pushed for the signing of Luka Modric back in 2012.

Modric was a Tottenham Hotspur player at the time and was in high demand due to his ever-growing reputation.

At the time, United were at the top of the tree under Sir Alex Ferguson, and were capable of signing whoever they wanted during that time.

However, he signed for Real Madrid in a £30m deal back in 2012, aged 27, and went onto become one of the best midfielders of his generation.

But, according to Ferdinand, it could have all been so different.

Modric was seriously considering a move to United, before he made the decision to join the Spanish giants.

Ferdinand revealed all on his FIVE YouTube channel, recounting how Modric wanted to become the first Croatian to play for United.

"Any player that was available or was coming up I used to think that I could somehow get into them.

"Even Thiago Alcantara at Liverpool, I spoke to him before he left Barcelona to go to Bayern Munich and that almost happened but we signed [Marouane] Fellaini instead.

"But Modric, I remember speaking to him, I said, "Are you leaving [Tottenham]?" and he said, "Yeah, I think I’m going to go" but he wasn’t sure at the time where he was going.

"I said, “Listen, you’ve got to come to United, man” and he said, "Yeah, listen, I want to be the first Croatian to play for Man United, I want to be that guy, can we make it happen?"

United opted to sign Borussia Dortmund Shinji Kagawa instead for £17m, but the former Japanese international could never recreate his best form in England, departing after only two years at the club.

"But it didn’t happen. I spoke to David Gill and the manager [Sir Alex] at the time had already agreed with Shinji Kagawa I think it was – I think that was the year, I’m sure it was.

"Or they already had irons in the fire with another player and they did that deal and then Modric went to Madrid and the rest is history."

Luka Modric in action during the World Cup. Image: Alamy

Modric, 37, has gone onto achieve great success both personally and part of the Madrid and Croatian national team.

Leading his country to a World Cup final in 2018, as well as winning the Champions League for a third time a row led to him becoming the first man since 2007 to win Ballon d'Or who wasn't named Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

On top of that, he won three La Liga titles, five Champions Leagues, four Club World Cups, four Super Cups, four Spanish Super Cups and one Copa del Rey.

He will go down as one of the best midfielders of his generation and even at 37, he continues to be one of the best in the world.