Kroos makes Inter transfer admission and praises Ancelotti | OneFootball

Former Germany international Toni Kroos admits he’d see himself at Inter if he hadn’t retired and explains how Carlo Ancelotti convinced him to move to the Bernabeu in 2024.

The former midfielder retired last summer after spending the last ten years of his career in Madrid.

Kroos received the Golden Player Man 2024 Award from Tuttosport and released an interview with the Turin-based paper.

He started by talking about his former coach, Ancelotti, who had a key role in his transfer from Bayern Munich ten years ago.

“He brought me to Madrid in 2014. He strongly wanted me after the World Cup,” said the former midfielder.

Kroos makes Inter transfer admission and praises Ancelotti

Germany’s midfielder #8 Toni Kroos (C) takes part in a training session of Germany’s national football team, ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 European football Championships, in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, on June 12, 2024. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP) (Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)

“They had just won the Champions League, and he told me he wanted to bring the team to the next level. It was not easy to leave Bayern Munich to join Real Madrid, but he made things simpler and motivated me. We’ve always had a special relationship, and I like the idea that my time in Madrid started and ended with him.”

Ancelotti coached Real Madrid from 2013 to 2015 and surprisingly returned to the Bernabeu in 2021.

“To be fair, we didn’t expect it, but it was great news to all of us because many of us, especially Carvajal, Marcelo, Modric, Ramos and Nacho, the most experienced players, had already worked with him,” said Kroos.

The 2014 Germany World Cup winner never played in Serie A, but he admitted that Italian sides were interested in him while he was in Madrid.

“There was interest from Serie A clubs when I was playing in Spain, but I never thought about leaving the Blancos,” he said.

“I’ve always liked Italian football, but Real is Real.”

Is there an Italian club where he’d like to play if he had not retired?

“It’s hard to pick one as I don’t know the environments internally, but right now, I wouldn’t see myself badly at Inter,” he admitted.

“They play with confidence and calm, trying to dominate proceedings; they are really strong.”

Kroos won the Champions League six times in Madrid.

Source: Tuttosport newspaper, December 17, 2024 page 10