Real Madrid star Luka Modric could easily have been playing in France for Sochaux, it has been revealed.

Before he left Dinamo Zagreb for Tottenham, Modric was was scouted by Sochaux.

Scout Mecha Bazdarevic recalled to France Football: "He looked a little bit better than the others, livelier, thinner. He had a facility to eliminate his opponent, in the ball control, fluidity, in fact.

"I fell in love. But he was already too old to get him to the training center. But we had seen him before everyone else."

Dinamo were demanding €5m from Sochaux to sell a then 18 year-old Modric in 2003.