Iconic former footballer Toni Kroos has offered up a blunt response after hearing that John Obi Mikel had supposedly called him 'average'. Both former midfielders are now retired and don't appear to have any obvious reason for falling out.
Kroos is best known for his time at Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, three Bundesliga titles, four La Ligas, and six Champions Leagues. He also got his hands on the 2014 World Cup with Germany, cementing his status as one of the greatest midfielders of the modern era.
Mikel didn't quite reach the same heights during his career, but had some fine moments. His time at Chelsea saw him lift two Premier Leagues, four FA Cups, two League Cups and both the Champions League and Europa League. He also won AFCON with Nigeria in 2013.
Mikel Denied Calling Kroos 'an Average Midfielder'
John Obi Mikel
John Obi Mikel
Now working as a pundit, Mikel is said to have called Kroos' career mediocre. Despite Kroos responding to the comments, the former Premier League ace has reportedly denied ever making the claim.
Mikel was reported to have said: “Toni Kroos is an average midfielder. I was a better player than him, to be honest. The only difference was that I didn’t play for Real Madrid, and I think we need to change this mentality of thinking anyway, player who plays for Real Madrid is better than others.
“When you see that players like Kroos, Nacho, Carvajal and Modric won 5 UCLs, it is a bit unfair, because these players are not even close to being the best in their positions. This shows that trophies can be misleading. I can name 10 players in the same positions that are better than these footballers.”
According to Nigerian outlet Pulse Sports, Mikel later claimed that the quotes were 'fake news', as he denied ever saying them.
Eden Hazard and Toni Kroos Related
Eden Hazard's Response to Toni Kroos Saying he 'Let His Career Die' at Real Madrid
Hazard has responded after Toni Kroos appeared to call him out about his Real Madrid career.
toni kroos
Despite Mikel trying to play down any conflict, Kroos saw the comments and clearly thought they were real. He took to social media to issue his own simple but brutal take-down on his Instagram account, as he posed the question:
“So why didn’t you play for Real Madrid?”
With Mikel reportedly denying the comments, it will be interesting to see if he speaks out on the matter again, now that Kroos has posted about them. At the time of writing, the German has had his response up on his Instagram stories for more than three hours, so clearly hasn't felt the need to take down his post.