Current Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has revealed that the individual quality of Los Blancos and the potential of playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo was too much to turn down in the summer. The German international was being linked with a move to the Premier League where Manchester United and Chelsea were chasing the midfielder. He decided to make the switch to the Bernabeu instead where he replaced Xabi Alonso.
Kroos told Die Welt, “I know what it means to play in a team with great individual quality. We all respect each other, the spirit is amazing.
“At the moment, there is no better player than Cristiano. He was one of those who looked out for me at first, he’s a really nice guy.”
The 24-year old also revealed that the mentality of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are pretty much the same, a factor that has helped him so far, “I was lucky to come from a club with great standards. In Munich, it’s more than stepping out on to the field to win – you start the season to win titles. So I didn’t have to adapt a lot.
“I enjoy playing in Madrid. Although people may not believe me, it’s a family club. I feel that people trust me.
“I was happy for the chance to do something new, I feel it was the right step. Madrid are a great club and were the challenge I sought after my long and successful Bayern career.
“Madrid, Bayern, Barcelona and Chelsea are the four greats right now. So I just changed one for another,” he added.
Kroos had already won everything there was in the German football despite his young age. In addition, he lifted the World Cup with Germany this year. The former Bayern man can play either as a holding midfielder or as an attacking midfielder. He has made a total of 12 appearances so far for Real Madrid after moving from Bayern for a fee of £20m.
The Real Madrid hierarchy clearly feel that Kroos is the future as they awarded him a 6-year contract that will keep him at the club till 2020.
As for Manchester United, they went on to sign Ander Herrera after missing out on the Kroos. After a slow start, Herrera is slowly starting to prove that the investment made him him was right.