Modric talking about Spain but on his way to England

British tabloid The Sun claims that Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Luka Modric (22) is close to signing for Newcastle United. Dinamo Zagreb vice president Zdravko Mamic would have met on Tuesday with Newcastle officials, including executive director of football Dennis Wise, in a hotel in Newcastle. Modric would join Newcastle after Euro 2008 and has already hosted a farewell dinner party with his team-mates. Newcastle would pay Zagreb 15 million euro° for the Croatian international.

A person from the entourage of Modric, who is also on the Barcelona list and who is said to prefer to sign for the Catalan club (read more here), suggests that one of his compatriots advised Modric not to join Barcelona but to come to the Premier League and is quoted as saying: "Mamic came back to Croatia and insisted that Luka is close to moving to Newcastle. He always talked about Spain but Portsmouth’s Croatian star Niko Kranjcar has told him to move to England. The money Newcastle are offering is fantastic."

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