Toni Kroos Almost Joined Manchester United, Contract Was 'Basically' Agreed

Real Madrid star Toni Kroos has revealed he almost signed for Manchester United in 2014 shortly before he moved to the Spanish capital. 

Kroos joined Los Blancos from Bayern Munich soon after the 2014 FIFA World Cup for a reported fee of around £20 million. 

In an interview with The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein (h/t Goal's Chris Burton), he said he nearly ended up in Manchester:

"David Moyes had come to see me, and the contract had basically been done.

"But then Moyes was fired and Louis van Gaal came in, which complicated matters.

"Louis wanted time to build his own project. I didn't hear anything from United for a while and started having doubts.

"Then the World Cup started and Carlo Ancelotti called. And that was it."

Moyes was sacked in April 2014, before the end of his first season, after the Red Devils had missed out on UEFA Champions League qualification.

Van Gaal took charge of United after managing the Netherlands at the World Cup.

The Red Devils won the FA Cup under the Dutchman as well as the UEFA Europa League and the League Cup under his successor Jose Mourinho, but Kroos has helped win La Liga and three UEFA Champions League titles at the Santiago Bernabeu, among other honours.

The 30-year-old would have been a superb signing for United and an excellent long-term replacement for Michael Carrick, who turned 33 in the summer of 2014.

Kroos is an intelligent player with an impressive passing range and outstanding delivery:

He looks to get the ball forward from his position as a deep-lying playmaker:

Overall, he has 67 assists for Los Blancos. This season he has laid on eight, as well finding the net himself five times.

Bleacher Report's Rob Blanchette criticised United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward for the club missing out on Kroos as they continue to struggle with recruitment:

Kroos has shown himself to be a world-class operator during his time in Madrid, and Real managed to snap him up at the age of 24 for something of a bargain price.

United instead signed Angel Di Maria, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind that summer.

Although Herrera and Blind did reasonably well during their time at Old Trafford, the only one of those still at the club is Shaw, who has spent much of his time at the club lacking form or fitness, while Di Maria was sold to Paris Saint-Germain after one season at a £15 million loss.