Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti leaves the door open for influential midfielder Toni Kroos to reverse his decision to retire this summer.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has left the door open for Toni Kroos to reverse his decision to retire from professional footballer this summer.
Towards the end of last month, Kroos announced that he would be retiring after representing Germany at this summer’s European Championship.
The 34-year-old therefore, as it stands, played his final game for Real Madrid on Saturday evening, helping them to record a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final.
Kroos’s contract with Los Blancos is due to expire at the end of June, but it had been widely thought that he would sign another one-year deal to remain in the Spanish capital.
The midfielder was again an influential figure for Real Madrid against Dortmund, providing the assist for Dani Carvajal to make the breakthrough at Wembley, before he left the field to a standing ovation late on.
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Kroos had been expected to continue at Real Madrid
Kroos will now turn out for his country at Euro 2024 before bringing the curtain down on an incredible career which started at Bayern Munich in 2007.
“As I have always said: Real Madrid is and will be my last club. I am happy and proud, that in my mind I found the right timing for my decision and that I could choose it by my own. My ambition was always to finish my career at the peak of my performance level,” read part of Kroos’s statement when he announced his call.
However, speaking after the Champions League final, Ancelotti revealed that he has not given up hope of convincing the German to make a shock U-turn.
“I’m really grateful to Kroos,” Ancelotti told reporters. “He finished at the very top, there is no way to finish higher than this. He had the boldness to finish it [his career] and he is a legend at this club.
“All the fans are grateful to him for attitude, his professionalism. I’ve told him we are waiting for him to change his mind – we are waiting for you.”
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Kroos will represent Germany at Euro 2024
However, Ancelotti insisted that Real Madrid will be able to replace Kroos if the midfielder sticks with his decision to hang up his boots.
“We have lost an important player, but we have players who can replace him and we will adapt and play a slightly different way,” added the manager. “We have fantastic players and the resources to remain competitive.”
Kroos said that his team were able to win the Champions League final after navigating their way through a difficult opening half, when Dortmund were the better team.
“The decisive factor was that we didn’t concede a goal in the first half. That would have been more than possible. It took a long time before we were the better team,” he said.
Kroos has now won five Champions League titles during his time at Real Madrid, while he also lifted the famous trophy at Bayern back in 2012-13.