Ivan Rakitic Backs Luka Modric to Win Any Prize Lionel Messi Cannot

Ivan Rakitic has taken a diplomatic approach to club and country loyalties by backing fellow Croatian Luka Modric to win any individual award that his Barcelona team-mate, Lionel Messi, cannot.  

Messi has not been included in the final three nominees for the 2018 Best FIFA Men's Player award, and Rakitic believes, as a result, it should go to Modric, who played a key role in Croatia's run to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final, per Marca (h/t Goal's Dejan Kalinic):

"If there is an individual prize that Lionel Messi can't win, then there's no doubt that this season it should go to Luka Modric. It wouldn't surprise me if he were to win with many more votes. This has been his year, and I am really happy for him. If Messi isn't the best, then it has to be Modric."

Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah are the other two nominees for the FIFA award, which will be announced on September 24.

Ronaldo and Modric both played crucial roles in Real Madrid winning a third consecutive UEFA Champions League trophy back in May before the Portuguese superstar made a £99.2 million switch to Juventus.

Salah, 26, won no silverware with Liverpool in 2017-18. But he was crucial as the Reds reached the Champions League final, and he netted 32 goals in the Premier League.

Despite the achievements of FIFA's final three, there was plenty of consternation surrounding Messi's omission:

The Argentinian is likely to be in the running to win the 2018 Ballon d'Or, which has been monopolised by him and Ronaldo for the last decade.

If Modric does win the Best FIFA Men's Player gong, perhaps the Messi-Ronaldo era will be finally coming to an end.