Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos retired this summer after a glorious era at the top of the game, going out with an assist in the Champions League final. It could all have looked very different for both Los Blancos and the German midfielder though.
Kroos has revealed that the same summer he ended up signing for Real Madrid in 2014, he had agreed a deal to sign for Manchester United. During his most recent podcast episode of Einfch mal Luppen, Kroos explained, as carried by MD, that had it not been for David Moyes’ sacking that same summer, he might have spent a decade at Old Trafford rather than the Santyiago Bernabeu.
“They sacked David Moyes, who I was still sitting with on my sofa in Munich. It was very nice for him to be sitting in our house with his wife. Then they hired Van Gaal and we both politely declined.”
It is impossible to know how history would have played out if Kroos had joined the Red Devils, but it certainly turned out alright for Kroos. Few will ever match his list of honours accumulated at Real Madrid, and very few will ever retire at such lofty heights. The 34-year-old has been a paragon of consistency during one of their two most successful eras ever.