Man City remain the team to beat in all competitions in 2023/24, and even if Pep Guardiola’s side go on to be as successful as they were when winning the treble, it’s a reasonable enough bet that their Catalan coach will still look to improve the team in certain areas.
Such is Guardiola’s relentless desire for perfection, only a select few players are likely to be exempt from a transfer if ever a bid comes in.
A belief that Real Madrid’s World Cup winning midfielder, Toni Kroos, could be tempted to move to the Etihad Stadium doesn’t appear to have any foundation at this stage according to Fabrizio Romano.
‘Some of you have been asking me about the stories linking Toni Kroos with Man City, but honestly guys these rumours are not confirmed at all on any side,’ the transfer expert wrote in his exclusive Daily Briefing column.
‘As always, the player will decide his future in the second part of the season. It’s important to say that there is no panic from the player side or the club side at the moment and his focus is 100% on Real Madrid.’
Of course, Kroos may well, in time, decide that he is up for a new challenge, but as Romano notes, it’ll be the new year at the earliest before the German either announces his retirement, a further year at Real Madrid or a last hurrah at City.
There are cogent reasons for any and all of those scenarios to be seriously considered by the player and so the important thing is that he takes his time.
Until he’s ready to commit one way or the other, Guardiola, who coached Kroos when he was in charge at Bayern Munich, will just have to sit back and wait.