Luka Modric has signed a one-year contract extension with AC Milan, keeping the 40-year-old midfielder at the San Siro for another season. The deal also comes with a personal milestone: Modric will retire from international duty with Croatia, closing a chapter on one of the most decorated international careers of his generation (Goal, Fox Sports).

Milan originally signed Modric last summer on a one-year deal that included an option to extend. The club exercised that option, and the extension runs through the 2025-26 season, with the possibility of a further year on top (AC Milan, BBC Sport).

For anyone who has lost track of Modric's whereabouts, his career arc is worth pausing on. He spent 13 years at Real Madrid, where he won six Champions League titles and four La Liga crowns. Before that, he made 160 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur over four seasons. He won the Ballon d'Or — the award for the world's best player — in 2018, the same year he led Croatia to the World Cup final as captain.

Modric took the Croatia armband in 2016. Under his leadership, Croatia reached the World Cup final in 2018 and finished third in another edition. He played in five World Cups across his international career, a run that spans two decades and several generations of teammates.

His first season at Milan was steady rather than spectacular. He scored twice in 37 appearances across all competitions. Milan finished fifth in Serie A — Italy's top flight — and reached the last-16 stage of the Coppa Italia, the domestic knockout competition. Not a trophy-winning campaign, but enough for the club to want him back.

Modric will link up with a new manager next season. Ruben Amorim, the former Manchester United head coach, replaced Massimiliano Allegri at Milan in June after Allegri was sacked (BBC Sport). Amorim now inherits a squad that includes one of the most experienced midfielders the game has seen, and Modric is expected to join Milan's pre-season tour in Australia (Goal).

What makes this feel significant is the symmetry. Modric is choosing to wind down his international career while extending his club one — a sequence many players follow, but few do it after a CV like his. Six Champions League titles, a Ballon d'Or, a World Cup final as captain. The list of players who can match that is short enough to count on one hand.

Croatia fans will feel the pull of an ending. Milan fans, meanwhile, get another year of a player who reads the game at a speed most professionals never reach, even in their prime. Whether Amorim can build a more successful side around him than Allegri managed is the question that will define Milan's season.

For now, Modric plays on.