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Alex Kirkland
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Rodrigo Faez
Oct 22, 2024, 06:25 AM ET
Toni Kroos has said he wasn’t tempted to delay his retirement to link up with Kylian Mbappé at Real Madrid, admitting it “wasn’t easy” to tell coach Carlo Ancelotti he’d decided to leave the club.
Midfielder Kroos won 23 trophies in a decade at Madrid — including five Champions Leagues — before retiring last summer, after competing with Germany at Euro 2024.
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The 2014 World Cup winner was able to end his career on a high, aged 34, after winning a LaLiga and Champions League double last season.
“The decision didn’t depend on if a player was arriving or leaving,” Kroos told Marca when asked if he’d considered staying at Madrid to play with Mbappé, who agreed a five-year contract in June.
“It was my decision. I knew Mbappé was coming, and I’m glad he did, because he’s going to help the team. He could have come two years ago, but now he’s finally here. But Mbappé didn’t affect my decision.”
Kroos described how he broke the news to Ancelotti, who coached the midfielder in both of his two spells in charge of Madrid.
“It was really hard for me to tell Carlo,” Kroos said. “He was hoping that I would continue, and we had, and have, a really good relationship. He was my first coach here, and it wasn’t easy to tell him, but everything in life comes to an end.
Toni Kroos won Germany’s footballer of the year for 2024 despite his retirement. Max Ellerbrake – firo sportphoto/Getty Images
“I knew he wouldn’t get angry, but that he’d be a bit sad. It wasn’t easy for me either, because something that had been very special was ending. I tried to choose a good moment … And I was lucky that we won LaLiga by a distance, and I said: ‘Now!’ Because there was the perfect time, between LaLiga and the Champions League final.”
“After 10 years, everyone knows me very well,” Kroos added. “And they know that if I’ve taken a decision and thought it through, there’s no turning back. The boss [Ancelotti] said to me: ‘You’re German, there’s nothing to be done, right?'”
Kroos’ No. 8 shirt has been passed on to Federico Valverde, who now has the task of replacing his influence in midfield.
“I love [Valverde] as a person and as a player,” Kroos said. “I believe in him and that’s why I gave him the No. 8, I think it could be good for him. Now he has to take the responsibility of playing and taking the risks I took on the pitch. It’s his turn, and I think he can do it.”
