Former Real Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has lavished praise on veteran Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric.

It was Mourinho who signed Luka Modric for Real Madrid back in 2012 on a €42 million transfer fee from Tottenham Hotspur.

The signing was at first criticised, as there wasn’t trust in the quality of the Croatian. Some newspapers even went ahead to label Modric as the worst signing of the year.

Modric has gone on to change the narrative, and is definitely among the greatest midfielders of his generation, with a Ballon d’Or to his name.

Speaking to Topps UK, Jose Mourinho heaped special praise on Luka Modric as he said: “Luka Modric is the beauty of football.

“He is my pride because I took him to Real Madrid when nobody believed that he was a player for Real Madrid and after how many years? 12, 13 ,14 years? He’s still there, so he’s my pride.”