On the surface, it seemed beyond odd. Luka Modric won his third consecutive Champions League title in May and followed it up last month by leading Croatia to the World Cup final and winning the Golden Ball as player of the tournament.

Yet only weeks later, the Real Madrid midfielder was being heavily linked with a move to Inter Milan, a club still under a Financial Fair Play settlement agreement. Reports in Spain and Italy talked about how Modric had held a meeting with Florentino Pérez, the Real president, demanding a move.

Social media did its part. It was noted that Real’s cover photo for the club’s official Facebook page displayed Toni Kroos, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale, but not Modric, something