Manchester United hopes of another treble ended in dramatic fashion at Old Trafford on Tuesday night as the Premier League's runaway leaders crashed out in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League at the hands of 9-time Champions Real Madrid. A 56th minute red card to Portuguese winger Nani was the catalyst for Real to script an unlikely win with the Spanish champions trailing United 2-1 on aggregate when Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir shocked everyone at Old Trafford by giving the player his marching orders for what looked to be an unintentional high boot on Alvaro Arbeloa.

Real Madrid responded to the man advantage by sending on former Tottenham playmaker for Arbeloa and the move proved to be a masterstroke from Manager Jose Mourinho with the man rated as 'La Liga Worst Signing of the Season' paying off a huge chunk of his massive summer transfer fee by drawing Real level in the 66th minute with a 20-yard effort that went in off the post.

Arsene Wenger's search for attacking players could lead to a winter bid for unsettled Real Madrid playmaker Luka Modric. The Croat’s former club Tottenham and long time pursuers Chelsea are also linked with a move for the 27 year-old but Arsenal are most in need of some attacking reinforcements and Wenger could jump the queue to sign the player this month, reported the Daily Star.

Modric has long been pursued by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich but the attacking midfielder quit England last summer to move to the Spanish capital. However, his La Liga career did not take off the way he would have expected, with the former Spurs first teamer making just 8 league starts this season. The playmaker would also be disheartened by a recent poll that adjudged the midfielder to be the worst La Liga signing of 2012.

Chelsea’s long standing pursuit of Croatian midfielder Luka Modric could get a new lease of life as Roman Abramovich plans to tempt Real Madrid with a £22 million bid for the playmaker.

Abramovich has been an ardent admirer of the 27 year-old and the Blues owner had come very close to signing the midfielder during his time with Tottenham, even having had a £40 million bid rejected by the North London side. The Spanish champions eventually succeeded in landing the Croatia international last summer but Modric has not made a flying start to his career at the Santiago Bernabeu, managing just 8 La Liga starts this season and several clubs have been alerted to the possibility of signing the midfielder this winter.

Manchester City and Chelsea are looking to target Luka Modric this winter after the Real Madrid star admitted that he was unsettled in Spain.

The Croatian International switched from White Hart Lane to the Santiago Bernabeu this summer but hasn’t been able to live up to the expectations. The Modric transfer was voted by fans as “The worst transfer” of the season in Spain, and the player is believed to be very upset by the news.

Gareth Bale is always a couple of good performances away from being touted as Real Madrid’s biggest transfer target and the Mirror has set the ball rolling by initiating the tedious rumours, claiming that the Spanish champions are willing to part with £50m for his talents. Luka Modric’s eventual transfer to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer resulted in a special agreement being signed between the two clubs, which could pave the way for frequent transfers.

Tottenham have started yet another chapter in their history under yet another manager as Andre Villas-Boas gradually fashions the side in his image. Bale is an extremely important part of that vision and his value to the side was highlighted when Spurs lost to Chelsea recently in his absence. In pure footballing terms, Spurs lack natural width on the left in Bale’s absence, especially with Benoit Assou-Ekotto out injured.

It is that time of the season again, when players, pundits and fans all catapult Gareth Bale into the upper echelons of world football. Harry Redknapp recently claimed that his former player can now be bracketed along with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo while Welsh manager deemed the flying winger ‘indispensable’. Bale’s former Tottenham team-mate Luka Modric has now joined the chorus by inviting the 23 year old to join him at Real Madrid.

In footballing terms, Ronaldo and Messi are currently on a plane higher than the stratospheric leap taken by Austrian Felix Baumgartner and Bale has a long way to go before he can even be mentioned in the same breadth as those two legends.

The last of the grand sagas of this summer's transfer window appears to have reached its end game with Real Madrid and Tottenham having come to an agreement reportedly worth â‚¬37 million for the transfer of Luka Modric.

Real Madrid declared the news on their official website this morning stating: "Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement for the transfer of the player Luka Modric, who will remain attached to the club for the next five seasons. Both clubs have also formalised an agreement of collaboration."