Luka Modric on the brink of breaking 58-year Real Madrid record

Real Madrid veteran Luka Modric is potentially just days away from making history, with his next appearance set to break the all-time record as the club's oldest player, which is currently held by Ferenc Puskas.

The evergreen Modric celebrated his 39th birthday last month but has still played a part in every Madrid game across all competitions so far this season, starting five of nine La Liga fixtures. He is even more important for Croatia, playing 90 minutes against Scotland and Poland, 77 against Portugal, and is set for a similar run out against Poland on Tuesday night.

Modric is already Madrid's oldest ever player in a La Liga game, overtaking Puskas from his final league outing in November 1965. Modric broke that record when he faced Cadiz in May at the age of 38 years and 238 days. His numerous appearances since have only extended it further.

Now, with Madrid due to face Celta Vigo when club football resumes this coming weekend, Modric will surpass Puskas again as the club’s oldest player in any competition.

Puskas was aged 39 years and 36 days in his final Madrid appearance on 8 May 1966, a Copa del Generalisimo (now the Copa del Rey) quarter-final first leg defeat to Real Betis. The 'Galloping Major', having played in La Liga for the last time six months earlier, wasn't then involved when Los Blancos won the European Cup for the sixth time only a few days later.

If Modric features against Celta Vigo in any capacity as expected, he will be 39 years and 40 days. Even if he doesn't get on the pitch for that particular game, he will continue to play a significant part throughout the rest of the season and the record will soon go.

Puskas is a Madrid legend but didn't actually join the club until 1958 when he was already 31 years of age. His glittering career was splintered by a refusal to return to Hungary following a suppressed uprising while on a European Cup away trip for Honved in Spain in 1956.

He was ultimately banned from playing by UEFA for two years and eventually signed with Madrid when that suspension expired. Manchester United had been interested in the wake of the Munich air disaster but were foiled by FA rules, while no clubs in Italy were prepared to gamble on him.

Everyone else's loss was Madrid's gain, with even an ageing Puskas as good as ever. He went on to score 242 goals in 262 appearances across eight years, most famously netting four times in the 1960 European Cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Glasgow.

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