Jenas: 'Modric is the best midfielder in the world'

Croatia have been one of the surprise packages at this World Cup, with their captain Luka Modric being the star of the team.

However, the former England player Jenas believes that no one should be surprised about the levels of performance shown by the Real Madrid playmaker at this tournament. In fact, he thinks it's surprising that he hasn't been recognised as one of the best players in his position until now.

Modric has played in every match so far for his country, and has shown on numerous occasoins the array of skills that he possesses which, for Jenas, makes him the best midfielder in the world.

"The things that make Modric such a threat to England on Wednesday are not just his vision, the fact he is a two-footed player, or his low centre of gravity and balance.

"When you consider how well balanced he is, I just don't see a better player in that area of the pitch anywhere on the planet right now," Jenas said, speaking to the 'BBC'.

Indeed, looking at Modric's record in this last few years at Real Madrid it is hard to understand why he hasn't been discussed in the runnings for the Balon D'Or.

The player has won 4 Champions Leagues and a league title during his time at Madrid, as well as being included in FIFPro World XI in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the UEFA team of the year in the latter two years also.

As Jenas points out, the difficulty he has is the fact that he does not score many goals, which is where Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will of course dominate every year. But does the player that provides the assist or the incisive pass that leads to the assist not deserve credit too?

Should Croatia defy the odds and lift the World Cup to add to his Champions League winners' medal this season, surely he would deserve the highest individiual accolade in the game too?