Luka Modrić ended a trophy-laden 12-year spell at Real Madrid on 11 July, hours after the club returned from the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Croatian midfielder is set to continue his career at AC Milan after winning every major honour with the Spanish side. On arrival at Madrid’s Barajas airport, Modrić removed his match shirt and handed it to 19-year-old Turkish prospect Arda Güler before the two players shared a brief embrace, footage published by El Chiringuito TV showed. The gesture was widely interpreted as a symbolic passing of the torch in Real Madrid’s midfield, mirroring Toni Kroos’s earlier hand-over of the No. 8 shirt to Federico Valverde. The club has not confirmed whether Güler will inherit Modrić’s coveted No. 10 jersey, but the public farewell underscores Real Madrid’s ongoing transition following the departures of long-serving midfield linchpins in consecutive seasons.