Real Madrid are just 12 days away from their first 2025 FIFA Club World Cup group stage clash. Between now and then, we could see some changes on the roster, with Luka Modric on his way out and Franco Mastantuono coming in.
Let’s start with Modric, the greatest Croatian footballer of all-time.
🚨🔴⚫️ AC Milan are planning for Luka Modrić initial part of medical tests to be completed next week in Croatia.
It’d happen after international games, if schedule will be approved by Modrić. pic.twitter.com/RK644q9Afp
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 5, 2025
Real Madrid Club World Cup FYIs
How They Qualified: Winners of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League
Overall Tournament Preview: go here
June 18, 3pm EST, Al-Hilal, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL
June 22, 3pm, EST, Pachuca, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
June 26, 9pm, EST, RB Salzburg, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA.
Past Titles Won: 5, in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022
The midfield maestro will say his goodbyes to Madrid during the CWC, as he’s set to sign a €3m contract with AC Milan.
Football Italia reports that the new deal would keep him in Milan until next year, with a club option for another potential season. Everything kind of hinges on the Croatian sensation’s schedule, which is deserved, given his distinguished career.
Modric, 39, won six UCLs five Spanish Super Cups and four La Ligas with Los Blancos.
Shifting gears to Mastantuono, according to ESPN, an agreement has been reached that will see the Bernabeu pay a €45 million transfer fee to River Plate.
The 17-year-old Argentine will then sign a six year deal that would keep him in the Spanish capital until 2031.
Although the article does state that “the structure of that payment is yet to be finalised.”
The midfield wonderkid will play in the CWC with River, before then (if everything comes to fruition of course) joining Madrid in August.
2025 FIFA Club World Cup Previews
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Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter