"It was close. I almost went to Manchester United."
Toni Kroos revealed he nearly signed for Manchester United in 2014 when David Moyes was manager, as Real Madrid face Manchester City in the second leg, trailing 4-3 on aggregate.
The World Cup winner spoke ahead of their
Champions League decider at the Bernabeu tonight of how he verbally agreed to sign for the Red Devils before Moyes was sacked.
Toni Kroos on nearly signing for Man United.
Kroos knew Man United wanted to sign him from conversations with Moyes which convinced him to verbally agree to the move.
The former Bayern Munich midfielder highlighted his family agreed on the move, which was a big incentive for the German to move to Old Trafford, as he felt undervalued in Pep Guardiola's side.
"I knew beforehand that United wanted me. And Moyes absolutely underlined that. It was a really nice afternoon with very pleasant people. We talked a lot about United's football plan, which convinced me," Kroos said, as per the
Daily Mail.
"But we also got to know each other as people. We knew quite a bit about the Moyes family afterwards. We talked about how we lived and how we all imagined life as a family.
"In the end, we broke up to do it. So we agreed verbally. The next step should be to look at everything on the spot in Manchester. The move would not have been that complicated, after all, we only had one child at the time, seven months old. It would all have worked."
Kroos reflects on what could have been.
However, Moyes was sacked by Man United in April 2014, which ended Kroos' hopes of signing for the club in the summer.
Kroos, despite missing out on a move to the Premier League, wasn't too disappointed with how things worked out. He moved to Real Madrid instead and has won three Champions League for the Los Blancos side.
"I'm not someone who thinks about hypotheticals. Yes, it was close. I almost went to Manchester United. But that's not how things turned out," Kross added.
"I don't have these what-if-thoughts. Because there are no real answers to them. The only thing I can say with certainty 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. This is 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 club must have a clear idea."
Moyes has often been derided for claiming he was close to bringing Kroos, Gareth Bale, and Cristiano Ronaldo to the club, but the German's comments back up at least one aspect of that.
Real Madrid play Man City tonight in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, with kick-off at 8:00 pm.
Related links:
