Modric Extends Milan Stay As Amorim Rebuild Takes Shape
Luka Modric has committed to another season at San Siro, with AC Milan confirming on Thursday that the Croatia captain has signed on until 30 June 2027, a decision that closes months of speculation over whether the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner would retire, return to Spain or push on into a 21st professional campaign.
The Serie A club announced the extension through an official statement, describing the midfielder as a central figure in the Rossoneri engine room since his arrival and noting that he had served the team with humility and passion both on and off the pitch. Milan added that the Croatian would continue his journey in the club’s colours with the ambition of reaching fresh milestones. Modric will again wear the number 14 shirt.
The agreement is technically the activation of an option rather than a fresh negotiation. When Modric joined Milan in July 2025 on a free transfer after ending a 13 year association with Real Madrid, the deal ran to 30 June 2026 with a club option for a further year. Italian outlets, including Gazzetta dello Sport and MilanNews, have reported that the renewal carries a basic package of about 3.5 million euros per season plus performance bonuses, though Milan have not published financial terms and those figures remain unconfirmed by the club.
Responding through the club’s channels, the midfielder said he was delighted to remain with a side that made him feel welcome from his first day, adding that the appetite to recover from a season below expectations was strong. He said he was ready to give everything again for the shirt.
The numbers behind the extension explain why Milan moved to keep him. Modric made 37 appearances across all competitions in 2025/26, scoring twice and logging 2,864 minutes, a workload that made him one of the most heavily used players in the squad despite being comfortably its oldest. He turns 41 on 9 September.
Milan’s campaign, however, ended in frustration. The seven time European champions finished fifth in Serie A after a late collapse, missing out on a Champions League place on the final day by a single point behind Como. Modric was absent for several matches late in the season through injury, and the failure to secure continental qualification cost Massimiliano Allegri his job.
Ruben Amorim, appointed on 16 June 2026 following his departure from Manchester United, has been handed a squad overhaul. Milan announced Goncalo Ramos from Paris Saint Germain in what Italian reporting placed at roughly 74 million euros, a figure widely described as a club record, before completing the signing of Spanish centre back Mario Gila from Lazio. Gila, 25, signed a contract running to the summer of 2031 and took the number 34 shirt, with Transfermarkt and Italian outlets putting the fee at about 30 million euros. Combined outlay on the two arrivals has already crossed 100 million euros, the clearest indication yet of the board’s intent.
Amorim is understood to have pushed for both signings, and reporting in Italy suggests he also lobbied for Modric’s retention, viewing the veteran as a tempo setter capable of guiding younger midfielders such as Samuele Ricci and Ardon Jashari through a demanding tactical transition.
The club decision arrives alongside a national team one. Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Modric has informed Croatia’s new head coach, Slaven Bilic, that he will retire from international football after the UEFA Nations League fixture against Spain on 6 October 2026 at Poljud Stadium in Split. Neither Modric nor the Croatian Football Federation had issued a formal confirmation as at the time of filing, so the date should be treated as reported rather than official.
That farewell would close a run that began in 2006 and now stands at more than 200 caps, with 29 goals. Modric captained Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final in Russia, where they lost to France, and to third place in Qatar in 2022. At the expanded 2026 tournament, his fifth World Cup, Croatia reached the round of 32 before losing 2-1 to Portugal in a match whose officiating decisions drew heavy debate among Croatian supporters. Zlatko Dalic left his post after that exit, with Bilic taking over.
His club honours remain among the deepest in the modern game. Between 2012 and 2025 at Real Madrid, Modric won six Champions League titles, four Spanish league championships and five UEFA Super Cups, and in 2018 he broke the decade long grip of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the Ballon d’Or while also collecting the FIFA Best Men’s Player award.
Milan open the 2026/27 Serie A season away to Torino on 23 August, with their first home fixture against Venezia five days later. The squad has been preparing on a pre season tour of Australia.
One statistical subplot is already drawing attention in Italy. Zlatan Ibrahimovic holds the record as the oldest goalscorer in Serie A history, having found the net at 41 years and five months. Modric has scored in the competition at 40 years and five months, placing him within reach of that mark should he register in the coming campaign.
The wider question is whether a squad rebuilt around Amorim’s demanding system can convert heavy summer spending into a return to the Champions League. For Milan, Modric represents continuity in a dressing room otherwise in flux. For the player, it is a final club season, undertaken without the competing demands of international duty, and pursued with the stated aim of ending a storied career on a high.