Modric found solitude with that ball. And he discovered how to play a version of street football that has remained with him throughout his career. A game of angles and bounces, of guile and surprise, toughness and touch. While the war made him stronger, the car park and what lay within it made him a star. At 8 years old, he had a trial with fifteen-time champions Hadjuk Split, the team he adored. He was there for two weeks before being released, told he was too fragile. Disconsolate, he returned to Zadar and entered the local academy, under the watchful eye of its head, Tomislav Básic. "He was a scared kid," says Básic. "But I quickly noticed that the ball was beautiful when it was at his feet. Luka was small and weak and we were constantly talking about whether he would grow or not. But you can never trust to say who will be a big player. What God has given him is in the genes."

Básic, who would become a second father to Modric, nurtured the young boy under the belief that his natural ability, combined with his brain would trump any physical shortcomings. The story goes that he even made the youngster a pair of shinpads out of wood. Básic, who passed away in 2014, believed wholeheartedly that the misery and hardship of Modric's childhood was one of the key reasons behind his protoge's success. "Perhaps it was the revoltion inside of him because of what he went through and his desire to succeed. I don't know if it has encouraged him, but I'm convinced that it had a major significance in the development of him as a man, mental and physical."

It was Básic who arranged Modric's move to Dinamo Zagreb when he was just 15. But much like his time with Hadjuk Split, it was shortlived. He was sent out on loan, first to Zrinjski in Bosnia, then, along with Vedran Corluka, to Inter Zapresic in the suburbs of Zagreb. It was there beneath the shadows of the old ceramics factory that he began to shine, quickly becoming a hero to the clubs' supporters, known as the 'Divlje Svinje' or Wild Pigs and driving the Keramičari to within a whisker of their first ever League title.

"He was technically perfect," wrote leading Croatian football writer Alexsander Holiga. "Even the hard pitches in the Bosnian league didn't bother him. He became a leader and its rare to have an 18-year-old leader in the team. He became much tougher in the Bosnian league, perhaps the toughest, most physical league of them all."

Keen to keep him from the clutches of a number of interested suitors, Zagreb and their controversial owner Zdrakvo Mamic signed Modric to a ten-year contract. But he would only play four of those before leaving for London, quickly outgrowing Croatian football.

Barcelona and Chelsea were seen as possible landing spots, but both were put off by his size. Instead, according to journalist Pete Jensen, it was Tottenham who signed him, albeit serendipitously. "Spurs scout Eddie Presland flew to Zagreb in 2007 to watch this promising Brazilian-born striker called Eduardo," said Jensen. "But when he arrived he was told that Arsenal had beaten him to it. Anyway, Eddie stayed watching and was instead drawn to this scrawny young kid playing in the heart of Dinamo's midfield — Luka Modric."

Presland would return again and again to Stadion Maksimir to watch Modric before Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy flew to sign him in the summer of 2008 for £16.5 million pounds.

The move was the making of the Croat despite some growing pains with incumbent boss Juande Ramos. However it was under the tutelage of Harry Redknapp that he developed into one of Europe's finest playmakers, quickly getting to grips with the ambitious style of play and fatherly man-management. "He was an amazing player to manage, just a fantastic footballer," Redknapp tells me. "I didn't have a single second's problem with the lad. Not one.

"He always wanted the ball and he had that innate awareness that all the great midfielders have: When you're in the middle of the park it's a very different game to any other position. If you're a full-back or a centre half or a winger then the game is either inside you or in front of you," Redknapp says. "But in the middle it's all around. You have to know where everyone is, have to have your head on a swivel all the time. Your body has to be side on to receive a pass and your brain has to be one step ahead of everyone else's because the picture's always changing."

After four seasons at White Hart Lane, the Croatian had again outgrown his surroundings. Despite recurring interest from Chelsea, he chose the Bernabeu over the Bridge, and although, much like his early days at Spurs, he would struggle - he was voted 2012's worst La Liga signing - he finally settled in alongside Xabi Alonso to form one of the best midfield partnerships on the continent.

In the space of three days in the spring of 2013 he supplied the cross for Sergio Ramos's winner in the Clasico, then came off the bench to fire Madrid past Manchester United and into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Suddenly nobody was talking about his lack of height or his strength in the tackle. Nurtured by Carlo Ancelotti who, like Harry Redknapp before him, unlocked his rare vision and footballing acuity, Modric flourished. Although he would play second fiddle in narrative to Xavi and Iniesta, the Croat was comfortably their equal. Now he stands atop the peak of world football, elegant yet urgent, gentle yet forceful, always appearing at just the right time to nurture the play, change direction, increase tempo. His mind two moves ahead of everyone else.

Horologists may study time. He slows it down.

"He just has such a rare understanding for how to play the position. He creates space in his head," says Redknapp. "When he came to me he was always playing wide on the left, tucking in and playing in little pockets of space. Then we played Arsenal and Chelsea in the same week and I decided to put him centrally. Some of my own coaches thought that was a mistake because they didn't think he'd be strong enough, but he ran those games. Absolutely dominated them. He never played wide left again."

"So what convinced you to break the narrative around putting a smaller player in the hustle and bustle of central midfield?" I ask.

"Look back through history to Leeds United," he says. "They had two them in Giles and Bremner who were 5'5 and it didn't hurt them. You don't have to be a giant. But you do have to have the ability to see everything before it happens. He just knits the game together. I don't ever remember him giving the ball away in training. Ever. We don’t have a player like that in our country. We don't. And that's holding us back."