Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has selected Toni Kroos over Cristiano Ronaldo for his “transfer of the century”, according to the German midfielder’s agent.
Kroos has been an integral part of the Real Madrid furniture since completing a move from Bayern Munich in 2014, mopping up titles galore in that time, including three consecutive Champions League trophies, while also establishing himself as one of the finest midfield operators the game has ever seen.
Since trading Bavaria for Madrid, Kroos has made 334 appearances for Los Blancos and formed a devastating midfield relationship with Luka Modric and Casemiro, in a trident that will unquestionably go down as one of the most succesful in the sport, bracketed with Barca’s Busquets-Iniesta-Xavi combo.
Kroos, Modric and Casemiro may well have been the very heartbeat of Real for the past seven or so years, but there have been others who haven’t performed too badly across the pitch. Sergio Ramos has marshalled the backline with distinction, while Karim Benzema has led the line with world-class ferocity.
Gareth Bale is the scorer of some memorable and important goals, not least a scintillating brace in the 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool, but Ronaldo surely trumps the lot. In under 10 years, the 36-year-old became Real’s record goalscorer and then some, bagging 450 goals, 127 more than second in the list Raul.
However, Perez believes Ronaldo has not been Real’s most important transfer this century, that’s according to Volker Struth anyway, Kroos’ representative, who says the club president told him his client has been the pick of the bunch since the turn of the millennium.
“He is an unbelievably pleasant person with a great life story,” Struth said of Perez to OMR-Podcast.
“He is entrepreneurial but remains human. He explained to me why Toni Kroos is Real Madrid’s transfer of the century.”
Kroos continues to play a highly-influential role for Real and has once against been the midfield catalyst for Carlo Ancelotti. In the Champions League last season he finished the campaign having completed more passes than any other player (932), with a 93% pass accuracy.
Under the former Everton boss this term, Kroos has returned from an injury that ruled him out for the opening eight games, helping Los Blancos top Group D in the Champions League, ahead of Inter Milan, and sit first in La Liga after 16 matches, with Ancelotti’s men currently eight points clear of second-placed Sevilla.