'I agreed to sign for Manchester United - but then club chiefs kicked out the manager'

Toni Kroos was once on the brink of signing for until the club sacked then-manager .

Moyes, who had been picked by Sir as his successor at Old Trafford, found himself under pressure due to poor results and was dismissed after just 10 months in charge in April 2014. Before his sacking, Moyes was keen to strengthen his team and had begun talks with midfielder for a potential transfer from .

At that point, Kroos, then 24, was ready to make the switch to the and play under the Scot’s leadership. But the situation changed dramatically when Moyes was shown the door midway through those negotiations.

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In an honest conversation with SPORT1, Kroos explained how his now mind-boggling move to Manchester fell through, having even sat down with Moyes in his Munich house. "In 2014, before I signed with , I had already agreed with Manchester United," he said.

"That would have been a move from Bayern to United. But then they kicked out David Moyes, who I was still sitting on my couch with in Munich and hired Louis van Gaal. Then we both declined with thanks."

Kroos stayed with Bayern Munich over the course of the 2014 World Cup, which he won with Germany, before making a fateful move to Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid that summer.

His legendary career in Spain saw him win a remarkable haul of trophies, including five titles, five Club World Cups, four UEFA Super Cups, four titles, one Copa del Rey, and four Spanish Super Cups.

"The World Cup started, and Ancelotti got in touch – that was it," Kroos added. Moyes also missed out on signing big stars like Gareth Bale and Cesc Fabregas during his tenure at United.

In a 2016 interview ahead of his Old Trafford return with , Moyes disclosed: "When I first went in to United my real target was Gareth Bale. I felt all along that Gareth Bale was a Manchester United player and I fought to get him [from ] right up until the last minute. We actually offered him a bigger deal than Real Madrid but Gareth had his mind made up on going to Madrid. He was, though, in my mind, the player I really wanted.

"The other one I came really close to getting was Cesc Fabregas, who we thought we would get [from ] right up until the last minute. And Sir Alex [Ferguson] had told me there was always a chance might come back from Real Madrid.”

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