Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has revealed quite how close he came to sealing a transfer to Manchester United back in 2014.
The Germany international was on his way out of Bayern Munich that summer, and ended up making a move to Real Madrid – one he probably won’t regret after winning three Champions League titles in his time at the club.
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Still, it would have been great to see a talent like Kroos seal a transfer to the Premier League at some point, and it seems he was very close to ending up at Man Utd under David Moyes.
Speaking to The Athletic, Kroos has explained why the deal seemed to fall through, with a contract all but done before the Red Devils seemingly made a bizarre U-turn on completing the signing once they sacked Moyes and hired Louis van Gaal as manager.
He said: “David Moyes had come to see me and the contract had basically been done but then Moyes was fired and Louis van Gaal came in, which complicated matters.
“Louis wanted time to build his own project. I didn’t hear anything from United for a while and started having doubts. Then the World Cup started and Carlo Ancelotti called. And that was it.”
United fans won’t be too happy to hear this, as they’ve long needed a quality long-term Michael Carrick replacement, and Kroos seems absolutely ideal for what they’ve been looking for, and it’s not at all clear why Van Gaal would snub the chance to get such a quality player in.
Instead, MUFC ended up spending big on unconvincing midfield signings like Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger under LVG, and later Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Fred, none of whom are really in the same league as Kroos, who has played a key role in Real’s recent success.