Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has opened up on how he almost joined English giants Manchester United.
United wanted the German when they were under David Moyes but a deal failed to materialize in the last minutes with the midfielder choosing to go to Madrid where he has become a success.
In an interview picked by the Daily Mail, Kroos said: “I knew beforehand that United wanted me. And (David) Moyes was in complete agreement. It was a very nice evening with very nice people. We talked a lot about United’s plan for the future, which convinced me. But we also got to know each other personally. We got to know the Moyes family quite well. We talked about how we lived and how we imagined our family life.
“We agreed verbally. The next step would be to see everything in situ, in Manchester. The move wouldn’t have been so complicated; after all, we only had a seven-month-old son at the time. Everything would have worked out.
“It was close. I was close to going to Manchester United. But things didn’t work out that way. I’m not one to think ‘what if’. Because there are no real answers to that. The only thing I can say for sure is that I probably wouldn’t have won the Champions League three times with Manchester United. United is too big a club to be there for a year or two. It’s not a club where you go to finish your career. You have to be there for three or four years and both the player and the club must have a clear idea.”
The decision to move to Madrid has proved to be the best one as the player is on the verge of winning his fifth Champions League trophy should they beat Liverpool in Paris in this year’s finals.
