Toni Kroos had already confirmed Manchester United before moving to Real Madrid
Toni Kroos left FC Bayern for Real Madrid in the summer of 2014. But actually everything pointed to Manchester United shortly before.
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos almost moved to Manchester United instead of Los Blancos in 2014. This is what Kroos’ adviser Volker Struth reveals in his book “Meine Spielzüge”, which will be published at the end of October, from which the Picture on sunday published some excerpts in advance.
Kroos actually wanted to extend his contract with FC Bayern Munich, which expired in 2015, in the fall of 2013, so Struth was in Munich several times for negotiations. Since FCB only offered the now 31-year-old an annual salary of 6.5 million euros instead of the required ten million euros, Kroos and his advisor decided at the beginning of 2014 to leave the German record champions.
“We informed the big clubs in Europe: Toni Kroos was on the market,” writes Struth. “I had the feeling that they didn’t want to believe us at first. How, Bayern let Toni Kroos go, the perfect man for Guardiola’s football? At some point they did believe it.”
Toni Kroos had already confirmed Manchester United
In April 2014, Manchester United then sent “a contract that was ready to be signed,” Struth continued. “It’s always about how much a footballer feels valued. Manchester United’s coach at the time, David Moyes, visited Toni personally, his advertising and United’s solid contract offer were clear signals of love. Toni Kroos agreed to Manchester United.”
However, since Moyes was dismissed as coach of the Red Devils at the end of April 2014, the camp of the world champion from 2014 turned around again. “I put my copy of United’s contract in the office safe. And there it is still today, without Toni’s signature,” writes Struth. “We were able to start all over with the club search for Toni Kroos.”
Instead of going to Manchester, Kroos went from Munich to Madrid in the summer of 2014 for 25 million euros. The 106-time German national player has won the Champions League three times and the Spanish championship twice with Real. He currently has 323 competitive appearances (22 goals, 80 assists) for Los Blancos, and his contract in the Spanish capital runs until 2023.