Germany legend Lothar Matthäus has confirmed that Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos will join Real Madrid in the summer transfer window.
The 24-year-old has one year left on his contract with the Bundesliga champions and has denied to sign an extension as he was not happy with the wages offered by the Allianz Arena outfit.
Since then Kroos has been strongly linked with a move a €25m to Chelsea, while their Premier League rivals Manchester United have long been interested in securing a deal for the German international.
Matthäus says the Champions League winners have signed a great talent and has congratulated Real for adding Kroos to their quality midfield.
“Congratulations to Real Madrid, they’ve got themselves a genius there. All the same, I’d have preferred him to stay at Munich,” Matthäus told the Spanish newspaper Marca.
“Toni is very intelligent, he passes the ball brilliantly and he can shoot hard and well, too. Ronaldo and Bale can really expand alongside him. Robben and Ribéry have, in the past few years.”
“He isn’t a central midfielder, he’s more of a false 9 who should go through the middle, behind the forwards.”
“I can imagine Cristiano Ronaldo, Kroos and Bale together in that line of three behind Benzema. He is like Modric in that way, though Modric can play as a central midfielder and Kroos is not one of those,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kroos’ agent Volker Struth has denied the recent reports that his client has completed a move to the Spanish capital club.
Kroos is currently on international duty with the Germany for the 2014 FIFA World Cup as were they have reached the last four of the tournament. They now face host nation Brazil in the semi final on Tuesday.
The Bayern star’s impending move to Real would see Chelsea and United suffer a massive blow. Both the clubs were keen on adding Kroos to their midfield in the summer transfer window.
Chelsea have signed Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona, while his compatriot and former Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera is already a United player. It should be see if either of the two midfielders can have an impact in the next season as Kroos’ potential switch to Real in near completion, if Matthäus’ comments were to be considered.
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