Real Madrid face shock threat as Man City enter race for superstar
Tom Weber
- 14 Oct 2023 09:23 BST
- 4 min read
Pep Guardiola is keen to reunite with Real Madrid superstar Toni Kroos, according to Spanish media.
The Manchester City boss coached the German midfielder during his time at Bayern Munich and still holds him in high regard. So much so in fact, that the Cityzens are apparently plotting a shock move for the 33-year-old, as initially claimed by Defensa Central.
Kroos was out of contract in the summer, but to make the midfield transition from the veteran pair of the German and Luka Modric to the young guns like Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and €103 million man Jude Bellingham easier, Los Blancos handed the World Cup winner and his Croatian partner a one-year extension.
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That transition away from the old guard is in full swing now and Kroos rarely plays the full 90 minutes of games these days, indicating that it might be time for the German to move on.
Shock move to City?
At the moment, it appears unlikely that Real Madrid will offer Kroos another short-term extension in the summer, meaning that he will be free to choose his next club. If the above-mentioned report is to be believed, Man City could be his destination.
It is claimed that the treble winners would be willing to pay Kroos £13m-a-season, but is it a realistic move? Though Pep may be an admirer of his former protégé, at 33, it seems that Kroos does not remotely fit the profile of player the Cityzens would be looking at as a potential option.
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Despite his still-abundant talent and oozing of class, it is hard to see Kroos keeping up with the rigorous demands of the Premier League at this stage, even if he were to only come in as a short-term injection of quality. It is difficult to imagine the team at the very pinnacle of European football targeting Kroos, who is at the back end of his career.
