4 Manchester City Targets That Bother Real Madrid

Toni Kroos, 25, Real Madrid, Midfielder

Ah here we go, this could well be the crux of MARCA’s argument. It’s no secret Pep admires Kroos and the feeling seems to be mutual. The two were paired as coach and player for one season alone at Bayern, but Pep was reportedly bitterly upset at losing Kroos to Madrid having been taken with his presence, passing and control of the game from its middle. Rumours of their being reunited, with help from Sheikh Mansour’s truckloads of money, were inevitable.

Meanwhile, Kroos is sitting pretty in Madrid as the engine behind the White Machine. His pass completion percentage in La Liga last year was some 94% which is mind-boggling, perhaps even the most prolific you will see. His 10 assists in 32 appearances may not stand out, but he provided almost 2 key passes on average per game and regardless of performances is among their most popular players on and off the pitch.

Why on earth would Madrid ever consider moving Kroos, much less to Guardiola’s City? Well, I suppose the rumour was birthed out of the inkling that Real Madrid would make a run on Paul Pogba. Pogba, as you may well have heard, is valued by his current club Juventus at north of £100million, a world record and clearly insane fee for the 23-year-old. To meet that valuation, it was surmised Madrid would need to make a sale of some sort and Kroos to City would be the perfect fit.

Alongside the question marks over whether Kroos would have as much playtime with Pogba at the Bernabeu, there was the added element of his wife’s difficulty in adjusting to life in Madrid and a rumour that he may well want to go himself too. Indeed, while he shut the door quite publicly on a return to Bayern, he has kept the option of being reunited with Pep ominously open, for whatever reason.

All the same, it seems at present that Real Madrid aren’t for selling. Not Kroos, not Morata, not James, nobody. A curious transfer window for them indeed, neither selling nor buying, at least for now. Zidane does have a stacked hand with a squad of world-class players and even a bench of them, so perhaps that’s what he wants to enter the long haul with too. Regardless, my gut tells me that Kroos may be possibility for City in theory, but in practise it seems unlikely.

With United leading the race for Pogba, Madrid have no good reason to move on from Kroos, if they even did before. While I have no doubt he remains the player Guardiola covets the most, it would present a challenge to snatch him from their clutches and I’m not sure MARCA, or Real fans in general, have anything to worry about.

Next: Martin Odegaard