Toni Kroos was entering the final year of his contract at Bayern in 2013/14. Th…

🚨😳 Toni Kroos was entering the final year of his contract at Bayern in 2013/14. The club offered him a new deal worth less than €10M per year, reportedly lower than Mario Götze’s salary. During talks, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge even told him: “You’re not a world-class player.”
Pep Guardiola pushed hard to keep Kroos, but the relationship between the player and Bayern’s board had already broken down. His agent offered Kroos to Barcelona twice, but Luis Enrique rejected the move both times and chose to sign Ivan Rakitić instead. 🥺
Meanwhile in Madrid, Florentino Pérez was focused on signing James Rodríguez, but Carlo Ancelotti specifically requested Kroos — and Real Madrid secured him for just €25M.
Around 45,000 fans packed the Bernabéu for James’ presentation… while only 8,000 showed up to welcome Kroos.
Eight years later, with 5 Champions League titles and 22 trophies to his name at Real Madrid, it’s fair to say his agent’s words proved true:
“The heist of the century.” 🔥🙌🇩🇪🎩