Manchester United chased Toni Kroos last January and have been linked to a future move for the Bayern Munich midfielder all spring long, as it became increasingly apparent that their season was a dead one. Lo and behold, Miguel Delaney of ESPN is reporting that United believe a deal is close.
Manchester United rumored to be close to signing Toni Kroos
Why? Why is this a thing? Stop.
Of course, that just means that United believe a deal is close. That doesn't mean that Bayern Munich is actually close to selling him. United probably also believed that Wayne Rooney's sale to Chelsea was closer than it was, and that they were going to be able to sign Juan Mata and Marouane Fellani a lot quicker than they did. They haven't exactly been adept players in the transfer market since Alex Ferguson's retirement.
Here’s what Delaney had to say:
After two months of negotiations, the United hierarchy is now confident the principles of an agreement are in place for the 24-year-old to become the first of potentially six high-profile signings ... Although Bayern will resist the transfer of Kroos, and there is every chance the saga could rumble on until after the World Cup, [Kroos and Southampton left back Luke Shaw] are currently seen as the most likely to join out of an extensive list of high-profile targets.
All of this is very, very United.
Ryan Giggs
First of all, there's the problem with trying to pry someone away from Bayern Munich that they don't want to sell. Bayern don't need to cave because they're not afraid of losing Kroos for free. They're the richest club in the world and will not be damaged by failing to get a fee for him. However, it is strange that they'd rather let him walk than grab a cool £30m or so from United -- Bayern have Thiago Alcantara, Pierre Hojberg, Mario Götze and Thomas Müller, four completely different players who can all operate in the same position as Kroos or a similar one.
Second, where exactly do United intend on playing him? Kroos is best as a central attacking midfielder, even if he's been moved all over the place by Pep Guardiola, who appeared to have little idea of how to use him. United already have Rooney -- who will play in the hole as long as Robin van Persie is fit -- Juan Mata, Adnan Januzaj, Shinji Kagawa and Marouane Fellaini. Three of those four players are either played out of position or on the bench in any given game. United is intent on buying a fifth No. 10 that they play out of position or bench?
Ultimately, the rumor that United are interested in buying him, but Bayern don’t want to sell is absolutely backwards and makes no sense. But United are a mess and Bayern are notoriously stubborn, so Delaney’s probably nailed all of this.
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