Former Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce has claimed that he was close to signing a legendary midfielder at St James’ Park.
Allardyce has revealed that he planned to sign Luka Modric and had even worked out on the signing with Freddy Shepherd.
However, the arrival of Mike Ashley at the club changed everything and the new owner did not provide the manager the right resources to sign the best players.
Speaking on the Under the Cosh Podcast, Allardyce revealed his transfer plans during his time at St James’ Park.
“This was going to be a big challenge. We went through the whole package of who we were going to get rid of and who we were going to bring in, but unfortunately the club got bought under Freddy’s nose and Mike came in,” Allardyce said.
“I needed six players because we got rid of the ones we talked about with Freddy, and then we were going to buy the ones we felt. We had Modric on our list, Luka Modric, he was £12m or something like that, but the budget didn’t happen.”
Signing Modric for £12m might have become Newcastle’s best signing in ages.
The Croatian midfielder has enjoyed an illustrious career at Real Madrid by not only winning the Ballon d’Or but also winning several La Liga and Champions League titles.
Modric has become one of the best players of this generation and if he had joined the Magpies, he would have transformed the club with his presence.
It just shows that under Mike Ashley’s reign, they struggled massively because of lack of funds being provided by the owner.