Luka Modric revealed that he wanted to join Chelsea during his time with Tottenham before his transfer to Real Madrid.

The Croatian midfielder left Dinamo Zagreb in his native country to join Spurs in 2008, but sought a move to their London rivals three years later.

Spurs rejected multiple bids from Chelsea, and the midfielder decided to stay on for one more season before joining Los Blancos in 2012.

He went on to win 28 trophies with Madrid, including six Champions League titles, while also lifting the 2018 Ballon d'Or during his time in the Spanish capital.

Modric also contributed with 30 goals and 63 assists in 394 LaLiga matches, forming a strong midfield with Casemiro and Toni Kroos.

Despite initially wanting to join the Blues, he believes the failed transfer was a blessing in disguise.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have said so publicly that I wanted to leave," said the AC Milan midfielder on the Neuspjeh prvaka show.

"Even so, I did very well at Tottenham. They were very tough on me, and the chairman, Daniel Levy, made it crystal clear in our first meeting [that] there was absolutely no chance they would let me go.

"After that, I carried on as if nothing had happened. I knew it would be complicated; both clubs are in London, and there's a rivalry.

"I wanted to go, even though I knew it was going to be very difficult.

"In the end, it didn't happen, and I kept playing, and it was perhaps one of my best seasons. We finished fourth; that year Chelsea won the Champions League.

"The season was phenomenal, and a year later, an even better opportunity came along. And in the end, it worked out even better; probably if I had joined Chelsea, I wouldn't have gone to Real Madrid."