“Before Real Madrid, I had it all done with Man United”

Toni Kroos was on the verge of signing for Manchester United after his time at Bayern Munich. The former Real Madrid player recently revealed this on the podcast “Einfach mal Luppen,” which he co-hosts with his brother Felix.

Kroos explained that the deal ultimately fell through due to a managerial change at Manchester United, although he did have a deal in place to make the switch to the Premier League. “Before signing for Real Madrid, I had an agreement with Manchester United,” Kroos confirmed, surprising listeners.

Kroos ‘politely decloned’ Van Gaal move

“David Moyes, with whom I had been sitting on my sofa in Munich, was sacked. It was really nice having him and his wife at our house. Then they hired Van Gaal, and both parties politely declined,” the German midfielder recalled as the reason for the signing falling through.

As a result, the German international and World Cup winner ended up signing for Real Madrid, where he would go on to become a club legend. Kroos played more than 400 games for the club and won 23 titles, including five Champions League trophies, cementing his legacy at the Santiago Bernabéu.

At the end of last season, Kroos retired, securing his 15th major trophy—an accomplishment that might not have been possible had Moyes remained at Old Trafford.

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Since that time, both clubs have gone on hugely opposing trajectories, with Real Madrid winning the aforementioned trophies and going on one of the most successful winning runs in the history of football on the continent.

Manchester United, however, dropped out of Europe’s elite competition and have wallowed since, hiring and firing managers, never being able to fully focus on a specific playing style and model of running the club. New investors have arrived but it remains to be seen whether or not real change will follow. Toni, as he so often did on the pitch, made the right decision.