Speaking to Marca at Milanello more than a year after leaving the Bernabéu, the 40-year-old said his children still ask when the family is going "home" and means Madrid rather than Milan.
"My intention is to return to Madrid and live there, but you know how things go," Modrić said. "Nobody can say anything for certain. But hopefully, hopefully it happens."
Modrić was careful to stress any return would need to serve a purpose beyond simply being present at the club again.
"I don't want to go back just to be there," he said. "I want to be useful, I want to help Madrid. Not be there without knowing why I'm there. Because Madrid has given me everything, and I think I would only go back to do something useful, to do things well and work not at Real Madrid, but for Real Madrid."
He referenced a recent comment from current head coach José Mourinho, who returned to the club this year, saying the phrase captured exactly his own thinking about any future role.
The Croatian, who left Madrid last year as the club's most decorated player in history with 28 trophies including six Champions League titles and four La Liga crowns, said the emotion of his farewell remains vivid.
"I still watch the footage of my farewell sometimes, even though more than a year has passed," he said. "When you see the people in the stands crying, all the messages, it fills you with pride and satisfaction, knowing you did something important at the biggest club in the world."
Asked whether Mourinho, who pushed hard for his signing from Tottenham in 2012, could yet coach him again, Modrić laughed off the timing.
"It's too late now," he said, though he added he had always followed the Portuguese's career with genuine affection regardless of where he worked.
Now in his second season at AC Milan, Modrić dismissed suggestions his age should define his ability to contribute.
"People shouldn't look at your age, your passport, your date of birth," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're 18, 30, 40 or 50. If you show on the pitch, day after day, that you can compete, that's what should be looked at."
He noted the questions about his longevity have followed him since 2019, when he was only 33, adding that he went on to win two more Champions League titles and reach another World Cup final with Croatia after that narrative began.
Modrić said he continues training daily without exception, driven by a love for the game rather than obligation.
"I don't have days where I say I don't feel like training or getting up," he said. "And while I feel like this, I see no reason to stop."
For now, his focus remains on Milan's push to return to the Champions League after narrowly missing out last season, though the pull of Madrid, he made clear, has never really loosened, with his eldest son, now 16, having spent his entire childhood in the Spanish capital before the family's move to Italy.