Real Madric star testifies on the financial history surrounding his 21 million euro transfer from Dinamo Zagreb to Tottenham Hotspur.
Luka Modrić, 29-year-old Real Madrid midfielder, found himself a month ago, on Sunday, 30 August, in a role he is not used to. He was interrogated in a room at the Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK) in Zagreb, reports Jutarnji List on September 28, 2015. He was a witness in the investigation against his former manager and, according to many, the most powerful man in Croatian football Zdravko Mamić. On the opposite side of the table was the deputy director of USKOK Sven Mišković. Modrić told to the prosecutors everything he knows about the circumstances of his transfer to Tottenham in 2008, and the circumstances under which he was subsequently paid 50 percent of the transfer, which he, for the most part, later passed to Mamić.
Jutarnji List received the complete testimony of Luka Modrić. Modrić confirmed the key fact that the annex to his agreement, according to which he was entitled to 50 percent of the transfer, was signed only after his move to Tottenham. “Sometime in late April 2008, Dinamo agreed to my transfer to Tottenham. The amount of the transfer was 21 million euros, which was supposed to go to Dinamo. Before going to Tottenham, I signed the document on termination of my contract with Dinamo, stating that I do not have any financial claims against Dinamo. Because at the time I was happy to go to a new club in the best football league in the world, and taking into account that I had complete confidence in Zdravko Mamić, I signed the document without reading it”, said Modrić. He also pointed out that he talked with Zdravko Mamić several times about how much money he would receive, considering everything he gave for Dinamo.
“Although Mamić has repeatedly promised that I would get some of the money from this transfer, it was never put into written form, but that was our oral agreement”, said Modrić, adding that, after the transfer to Tottenham, he again asked Mamić whether he would give him a part of the transfer and Mamić answered that he would think about it. “Some time after the transfer, when I had already started playing for Tottenham, I again spoke to Zdravko Mamić and asked him whether we would pay me the money. Mamić replied that I would formally receive 50 percent of the transfer, about 10.5 million euros, but that only a small portion of it would actually be for me”, explained Modrić.
“At that time, after I had already started playing for Tottenham, as I recall, an annex to the agreement was made between me and Dinamo, by which I was entitled to 50 percent of the transfer. Zdravko Mamić told me that it was necessary for me to sign the annex so I could get some of the money”, said Modrić. In addition, he continued, Mamić asked him to sign a separate agreement between the two of them about how to distribute the money, with Mamić getting the most of it on the basis that Mamić had invested in Modrić’s “football development”.
“I think I got around 1.9 million euros”, said Modrić, explaining that he took the rest of the money from an account in a bank in Zagreb and gave it to Mamić or to members of his family. In accordance with their demands, he did not transfer the money to their accounts, but gave them the cash in the bank. “I would go to the bank together with some members of the Mamić family, as I recall once or twice with Zoran Mamić, and also with Zdravko Mamić’s son”, said Modrić.
The issue of paying taxes was taken care of by Dinamo, and the money that has remained in the account was used by Modrić for his personal needs. “I believe that the money belongs to me, given the fact that thanks to me Dinamo had significant revenue both from my transfer to Tottenham and sponsors. However, if it turns out that I had no right to that money, I will return it”, said Luka Modrić.
