Manchester United Transfer News: Latest on Toni Kroos, Top Rumours

Jose Mourinho has reportedly decided Toni Kroos is his "ideal" transfer target for Manchester United. Mourinho is said to want the Real Madrid midfielder to bolster the Red Devils' ranks in the middle, but the Portuguese is aware it won't be easy to convince Los Blancos to sell.

Mourinho's interest in Kroos has been reported by Calciomercato (h/t Matt Gault of Football Whispers, via Sky Sports). Gault outlined the United manager's doubts about the potential deal, with Mourinho realising "how difficult it will be to convince him to leave the Santiago Bernabeu."

Regardless of the potential pitfalls of any attempts to sign him, Kroos makes sense as a target for United. He would give Mourinho's squad another midfielder with a keen eye for goal who would be able to complement the scoring instincts of Paul Pogba.

United's form and performances in the Premier league have tailed off somewhat while Pogba has been out with a hamstring injury. The Frenchman's runs beyond the striker and ability to score and create goals have been missed.

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Club legend Paul Scholes recently addressed how Pogba's eventual return will boost United, particularly centre-forward Romelu Lukaku.

Speaking on BT Sport (h/t Jack Austin of The Independent), Scholes said: "I think if Pogba comes back he'll make a difference to the way they play. He links the team together and I don't think they have a good enough No 10 at the moment and that doesn't help Lukaku either."

Austin noted how United's 2-0 win over Benfica at Old Trafford in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night was "only the second time they had scored more than one goal in their last six matches." It's a clear indicator of the guile currently missing from the Manchester club's midfield.

United don't want to have to be this reliant on Pogba for ingenuity in the final third, and Kroos would add similar qualities whenever he breaks forward from midfield.

The Germany international boasts a powerful shot, as well as the vision and technique to thread passes between the lines and create chances. Yet like most of Real's squad so far this season, Kroos has struggled to let his talent show, scoring just once and failing to provide an assist, per WhoScored.com.

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The struggles of Kroos and other key players have left Los Merengues eight points behind bitter rivals Barcelona in La Liga. Real are also coming off a 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League.

The dire run has prompted Spanish football pundit Terry Gibson to call for a "reboot" of the squad on a recent edition of the La Liga Weekly Podcast (h/t Sky Sports). If such moves are made to refresh things, Kroos may not be as tough for United to get as Mourinho thinks.

Signing one of Europe's best midfielders, who is still just 27, would rate as a major coup for the United boss. Pairing Kroos and Pogba together ahead of Nemanja Matic would let the Reds play a more expansive and stylish brand of football.