Toni Kroos is a target for both Manchester United and Manchester City, according to El Confidencial.
The German midfielder is the latest player, following Alexis Sanchez, to be caught between a José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola tug of war, with both clubs ‘already working’ on trying to sign the Real Madrid star.
Down the player’s end, Kroos, after all his successes with Real Madrid, isn’t just ‘seduced’ by the idea of the ‘Premier League experience’, but he’s actually thinking about making the change.
Toni Kroos already knows Guardiola, having spent a season under him at Bayern Munich, and when it was clear the midfielder wouldn’t be staying any longer, the Spaniard tried to get him to sign for Barcelona, to no avail, as the neither the Catalan club nor their manager at the time (Luis Enrique) were interested.
Real Madrid then came along, and snapped him up.
However, El Confidencial state the Manchester City manager ‘hasn’t given up’, and has ‘made it his goal’ to coach him once again as he continues his ‘eternal pursuit of excellency with a ball’.
For José Mourinho, there’s none of this, with a simple need of bolstering his midfield come the summer as the likes of Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini are set to leave.
The Portuguese manager has even reached out to Toni Kroos, trying to make him understand there would be nowhere better to finish his career than Manchester United after spells at Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Yet, this appears to only be possible if a Paul Pogba sale takes place, at which point Mourinho may have a ‘good budget to scare Real Madrid’.
After all, it’s easy to forget the Spanish club in all of this, and while Florentino Pérez isn’t exactly keen on the idea of selling his star midfielder, he might not have a choice.
Kroos ‘understands that he is facing a good opportunity to try a new, attractive, emerging, different and seductive market’, and with no one realistically ready to trigger his release clause (said to be around €300m), El Confidencial explain ‘everything is negotiable’.
