Despite winning several major honours with Real Madrid, Toni Kroos is continuing to perform at an exceptionally high level and according to AS, head coach Carlo Ancelotti is encouraging the midfielder to stay on for another year.
Ideally, Los Blancos would like the German to sign a new deal, which would commit him to the club until 2025. Kroos is considered to be one of the main leaders in the Madrid dressing room and his teammates are also impressed by his professionalism and application in training.
In recent months, the Germany international provided some hints about his plans for the final years of his career.
He said: ” I always said that for me it was key to finish at a high level and not drag on for three more years. I feel the same desire as I did 15 years ago to win these games (European play-offs) and these titles (Champions League, La Liga…).
“I’m not tired at all. It still gets on my nerves when we lose matches. That’s also important, that the feeling is still there.
“And I still enjoy football, that’s what I like.”
The German also praised the way the club handled negotiations with him last summer.
He added: “I would like to congratulate the club for the way they handled the whole thing. Everything was up to my connection with the club, on both sides.
“I was always clear; I didn’t know if I wanted to play another year or not, but if I did I didn’t want to go to another team.
“We didn’t need big negotiations or haggling, I wasn’t going to get another club involved through the agent.”
It was thought that this could be Kroos’ last season at the club, especially considering Ancelotti had already began reshaping a much younger and dynamic midfielder. However, according to reports, Kroos is viewed by the Italian manager as a fundamental part of his setup and has told the player to postpone his retirement for at least another year so he can continue to perform at the Bernabéu.
His importance to the team is further reinforced by the numbers with the 33-year-old playing in 21 of the 23 matches this season, registering five assists and scoring a goal against Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano. Kroos arrived from Bayern Munich, who could not keep him as he had only one year left on his contract, in the summer of 2014 for €25m.
During his time at the club, he made 438 appearances, scoring 28 goals and grabbing 96 assists in the process. Furthermore, he was 20 titles with Madrid including four Champions League titles, five Club World Cups, four European Super Cups, three League titles, three Spanish Super Cups and one Copa del Rey.
Both club and player are in no rush to make a decision, however the feeling at the club is that Kroos will continue for one more season at the new Bernabéu.
Rajan Sangha | GSFN
