Modric admits feeling 'completely drained'

After claiming the prize for Player of the Tournament in Russia, Modric has since collected the main two individual honours of the calendar year; being named UEFA's Player of the Year and FIFA''s 'The Best' Player of the Year.  The three individual prizes were  a fitting tribute to yet another stellar season in the heart of both Real Madrid and Croatia midfields, as the Spanish giants won their 13th Champions League crown, and Croatia reached the final  of the World Cup.

However, the long runs with Madrid and Croatia left play maker Modric feeling 'completely drained' at the end of the summer; a feeling he has struggled to shake at the start of this current campaign. 

Speaking to the world players' union FIFPro at the FIFA 'The Best' awards ceremony this week, Modric explained the factors that he thinks are behind his uncharacteristically slow start to the season: "I had only three weeks of holiday - I think that's the least I've had as a footballer. The first week we spent celebrating, first in Zagreb and then in our own cities. It was not easy to start again after those emotional moments. I felt completely drained and I needed time to get back to my best level.

Modric continued on  the topic by highlighting the desire among the Croatia squad to 'achieve something great', which again, took another large portion of energy away from the 33 year old: "We were so eager to achieve something great with Croatia, but when we did all these emotions came down on us and it was not easy to recover. Now I'm getting better and the season has started. We need to forget about it and concentrate on what people expect from us this season."

FifPro have already issued calls for players to be granted at least five weeks break between campaigns, not including pre-season training. The European Club Association wants to revise the international playing calendar from 2024 to include more rest, in order to protect the game's top stars.