Sergio Ramos on Modric: ‘He deserves to win FIFA The Best award’

‘He deserves to win it,’, says Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos on Modric, as FIFA The Best gala takes place on September 24.

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has said that teammate Luka Modric deserves to win FIFA ‘The Best’ award. He was quoted by Spanish outlet Sport, where he insisted that he is proud to have the Croatian at Real Madrid.

Interestingly, his quotes are also being interpreted as a dig at his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.

“Maybe other players have more marketing or bigger names, Modric deserves to win the award,” said Ramos.

Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid this summer in a stunning transfer to Italian champions Juventus. Mohamed Salah, meanwhile, was fouled by Ramos in the Champions League final, which forced him off the field with injury. The two have spoken in length about the incident in the media since.

“We will see who wins. He’s a great friend and there are few players I feel prouder of to have in my team,” the Real Madrid captain said on Modric.

“He’s a huge star. He’s one of the few people who (if he wins) I’d be as happy for as if they gave it to me,” he added.

FIFA ‘The Best’ gala will take place in London on September 24. With Ronaldo and Salah being the other nominations, Lionel Messi was snubbed from the FIFA nominations in the category for the first time since 2006.

Also read: UEFA Nations League: Spain vs Croatia prediction

The three were also nominated for ‘UEFA Player of the Year’, which was won by Luka Modric. The Real Madrid midfielder, apart from winning the Champions League with Los Blancos, also led Croatia to their first ever final in the World Cup in Russia this summer.

Lionel Messi was ranked fifth in the UEFA nominations, while Antoine Griezmann took the fourth place.