Toni Kroos has been an integral part of Real Madrid for years. The national player has won 14 titles with Los Blancos as a regular since 2014.
If it had been up to two former FC Bayern officials, Kroos would never have put on the white jersey: Matthias Sammer and Uli Hoeneß.
In 2014, the duo wanted the newly crowned world champion to get a contract extension with the record champions.
After a game, Hoeneß, then still in office as president, was very clear to Kroos. The real star revealed this in a new episode of his podcast “Einfach mal Luppen”, which he recorded together with brother Felix.
Hoeneß attacked Kroos consultants
“Mr. Hoeneß came to me at the time and said what my advisor was asking is a cheek,” said the midfielder. “I told him: That may be your opinion. But that’s what we and not my advisor demand.”
The four-time Champions League winner now also speculated about Hoeneß’s intention with this statement. “I think he just wanted to hear whether Toni asked for that or whether the consultant wanted that.”
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The man who has been taking over the negotiations from Toni Kroos and Felix Kroos for more than ten years and who was meant at the time is Volker Struth. He made it clear in the podcast: “Toni would not have been a top earner at Bayern with our claim and not been among the top five. It was a market demand.”
Matthias Sammer, then sports director at the record champions, saw it differently and was not ready to pay the salary. He also tried to push the demands. “We have a great relationship with him. But it got very emotional on the phone when we suggested what we were going to do after the World Cup,” recalls Struth. “It was like head-to-head on the phone.”
The deal to extend the contract finally failed and so Kroos moved to Spain in 2014 a year before his contract with FC Bayern ended for only 25 million euros.
Kroos criticizes transfer madness
This means that the strategist is far from the high releasing rates of many other stars like Neymar. The Brazilian moved from Barca to Paris Saint-Germain for € 222m in 2017. This makes him the most expensive footballer in history. (La Liga Schedule and Results)
“Nowhere was the outcry about this sum as great as in Germany. Of course, that’s a lot of money, but if a sheikh thinks that he is putting so much money on the table, then it’s up to him. If the market gives it, that’s just fine so, “Struth does not understand the criticism of these sums. “If an investor who has so much money in his account and wants to see Neymar running around on the pitch pays it, it won’t hurt anyone.”
Toni Kroos has no problem with the record transfer either. Another development on the transfer market bothers him much more. “I have the feeling that all of a sudden, at most mediocre players for 40 or 50 million euros have switched. Each one was suddenly 30 million euros more expensive and it was extremely disproportionate,” said the Madrilenian.
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