3 Croatian footballers who have played for London-based clubs

Croatia is a tiny east-European nation with a population of only 3.5 million, but their national football team are among the strongest in the world. They finished runners-up in 2018 World Cup, and have some of the world’s best footballers in their line-up.

Ivan Perisic, one of Croatia’s better players, plays for Italian giants Inter Milan and has been linked with Arsenal of late. He was also benched in Inter’s last Serie A match, and might be seen playing for the Gunners very soon. He is a left-sided winger with great speed and strength, and has scored 34 goals in 140 matches for Inter.

However, Perisic is not going to be the first Croatian player to play for a London-based club, should he ultimately make a move to Arsenal.

There are 3 other Croatian players who have successfully played club football in London:

#1 Luka Modric

The Ballon d’Or winner plays for Real Madrid now, but rose to prominence while playing for Tottenham Hotspur. Modric is primarily a central midfielder, but used to play box-to-box for Spurs. He adjusted very well to the fast-paced Premier League and performed consistently well for Tottenham.

Modric was signed by Spurs in 2008 and played for them till 2012. He played alongside the likes of Gareth Bale, Emmanuel Adebayor and Aaron Lennon for a very good Spurs side. He could not win any silverware with them, but impressed football lovers worldwide with his precise passing and work rate.

Modric was a lot younger then, and quite understandably, was even more industrious than he is now. He remained a livewire in the midfield and also contributed defensively. He also scored some stunning goals for Spurs with his powerful shots from the edge of the opposition penalty box.

Modric played in 159 matches for Spurs and scored 17 goals. He also provided numerous assists to their forwards. Manchester United wanted to sign him from Tottenham, but Real Madrid succeeded in doing so ultimately. He joined Real in 2012, and has been one of their most important players since then.