At the age of 39, Luka Modrić made his first football ownership investment in Swansea City, when the club posted an annual loss of £15.2m, now at the top of the Championship.

AC Milan’s Luka Modric celebrates after scoring his team’s opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Bologna at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) When Luka Modrić bought Swansea City in April 2025, the Welsh club needed more than a famous name to turn their fortunes around, financial losses were piling up, managerial uncertainty persisted and Premier League football felt ever more distant. Eighteen months later, Swansea are leading the Championship, attracting heavyweight investors and rebuilding their football operations. Modrić’s arrival was never going to fix everything overnight, but what has happened since then suggests that a club that has lost its way is starting to find it again.

Modrić arrived when Swansea needed a fresh start

Modrić became a minority investor and co-owner on 14 April 2025, joining American investors Andy Coleman, Brett Cravatt, Nigel Morris and Jason Cohen, who bought out former majority owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan in November 2024. The new ownership group has inherited a club facing uncertainty on the pitch, making the arrival of the pitch a wider international push and the ambitions of joining Croatia becoming considerable financial ambitions. visibility.Swansea were 12th in the Championship with 54 points when Modrić joined after head coach Luke Williams was sacked in March and Alan Sheehan took over on an interim basis. The club have not played in the Premier League since relegation was confirmed on 13 May 2018 following a 2–1 defeat by Stoke City, ending a seven-year stay in the top flight.

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The financial situation was equally difficult, with Swansea reporting a pre-tax loss of £15.2 million ($20 million) for the financial year ending June 2024, although this was an improvement on the £17.9 million ($23.6 million) deficit recorded the previous year. Turnover was £21.5 million (US$28.3 million), while stadium and training ground costs added pressure to compete in the Championship without a comparable redistribution agreement with the Premier League.In its financial statement, the board acknowledged that remaining competitive in the division required continued support from the ownership group, which remained the club’s main source of funding.Modrić brought something different to a conventional financial investor, combining the reputation of a Ballon d’Or winner with elite football experience and a global profile that could help attract commercial partners and boost recruitment.“It’s an exciting opportunity. Swansea has a strong identity, an incredible fan base and ambitions to compete at the highest level,” Modrić said when the investment was announced. “I believe that by playing at the highest level I can bring my experience to the club. My aim is to support the growth of the club in a positive way and help build an exciting future.”Swansea described the investment as a confirmation of their ambitions and said Modrić would help the club attract global attention and progress on and off the pitch.

A difficult season forced Swansea to change course

Modrić’s arrival did not bring an immediate turnaround as Swansea struggled in the opening months of the 2025-26 season and found themselves worryingly close to the relegation zone in November. The ownership group responded with a more analytical approach to decision-making and eventually appointed Vitor Matos, a former Liverpool development coach who worked under Jürgen Klopp, as head coach.Matos introduced a more aggressive, high running style that reinvigorated elements of Swansea’s traditional hold and move approach and helped the side regain stability after their difficult start. The improvement was gradual rather than spectacular, but it gave the club a platform to approach the following season with greater confidence and a clearer footballing identity.This progress became more evident in the 2026-27 season, with Swansea picking up 20 points from their first nine league games following a 2-1 win over Norwich City on 10 October. Their record of six wins, two draws and one defeat has taken them top of the Championship, marking their strongest start to a league campaign since 2019-20.For a club that has struggled for years to turn its ambitions of returning to the Premier League into something tangible, a change in mood is almost as important as table position. Steve Carroll, fanzine editor Swansea Oh Swanseahe told reporters: “You can see the ambition and the ideas. People are talking positively about us again.”

Snoop Dogg, new investors and a broader redevelopment plan

Swansea’s revival is not limited to the first team, with the ownership group pursuing commercial growth and infrastructure changes aimed at leaving the club in a stronger position for the long term. Rapper Snoop Dogg has joined the minority ownership group since Modrić’s arrival, adding another globally recognized name to the club’s commercial profile.

Swansea City co-owner Snoop Dogg before the English Championship soccer match between Swansea City and Preston in Swansea, Wales, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

A strategic partnership with Los Angeles-based Shamrock Capital followed in July 2026, bringing further financial backing from the investment firm managing assets worth around £5.5 billion ($7.3 billion). The deal was part of a wider attempt to attract capital and develop the club without diluting existing shareholders’ stakes.Swansea have also strengthened their football operations, appointing former Crystal Palace employee Ben Stevens as sporting director and partnering with Jamestown Analytics to modernize player recruitment. The club is negotiating to buy the Swansea.com Stadium and Fairwood training facility directly from the local council and is looking to restore its academy to Category One status by 2027.Other plans include new investment in the women’s team and major LED upgrades around the stadium for fans. The challenge is to turn these projects into sustainable progress, especially as the financial accounts remain a warning against the assumption that a better league position automatically means a healthier business.In April 2026, Swansea reported a record net loss of £21.6 million ($28.5 million) for the financial year ending June 2025, highlighting the cost of the redevelopment programme. Still, there has been encouraging commercial movement, with chief executive Tom Gorringe announcing in August that revenue has increased by more than 25% over the 2025-26 cycle, from around £22m ($29m) to around £27.8m ($36.7m).

Modrić moved from Madrid but remains an elite footballer

While Swansea were rebuilding, Modrić made a major change of his own without leaving the game. He left Real Madrid in the summer of 2025 after 13 seasons, winning 28 trophies, including six European Cups, four La Liga titles and two Copa del Rey trophies, while scoring 43 goals and providing 95 assists in 597 games.His Madrid career also saw him win the 2018 Ballon d’Or, the FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award and the UEFA Player of the Year award, cementing his place among the most respected midfielders of his generation. He joined AC Milan on a free transfer in July 2025 and made 37 appearances in his first season before agreeing a contract extension until June 2027.

AC Milan’s Luka Modric jumps for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Lecce in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

At 41, Modrić remains an active member of the Croatian national team and led the country to their fifth World Cup in the summer of 2026 when Croatia eliminated Portugal in the round of 32. On 26 September he scored against the Czech Republic in the Croatian Nations League and on 11 October he came off the bench to assist Adrien 1-Rabiot Milano’s equaliser.His continued playing career gives Swansea a link with a footballer who understands the demands of the elite competition from the inside, rather than simply lending his name to ownership notices. The club still have financial problems to overcome and nine Championship games are not enough to secure promotion, but a combination of better results, fresh investment and a clearer football plan has changed the conversation around Swansea.Modrić arrived when the club needed a fresh start and progress since then suggests his first move into ownership coincided with a more compelling direction for the Swans.