Real Madrid and Germany legend Toni Kroos has again gone into detail on how he turned down the chance to join Manchester United before heading to Spain.
Sport 1 cover comments from the icon today and how a change of manager at Manchester United stopped him from making the transfer.
Kroos retired from the game this summer after a glorious career in which he made 205 appearances for Bayern Munich and 465 for Real Madrid and 114 for Germany.
That saw him picking up trophies by the bucket load, winning three Bundesliga titles, the Champions League and various other trophies before heading to Madrid.
The trophy haul grew considerably in Spain, where he added four league titles, five Champions Leagues, the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to his collection.
Add in a World Cup in 2014 and numerous personal awards and Kroos will go down as one of the best players in the history of the game, something few would debate.
Things could have been very different, though, as before he headed to Madrid, he was close to joining Manchester United.
That’s something he’s spoken of before and now reveals it was Manchester United’s decision to change manager that stopped it happening.
“In 2014, before I signed with Real Madrid, I had already agreed with Manchester United. That would have been a move from Bayern to United,” he said.
“But then they kicked out David Moyes, who I was still sitting on my couch with in Munich and hired Louis van Gaal. Then we both declined with thanks.”
