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Toni Kroos may have hung up his boots after Euro 2024, but his ties to Real Madrid were never going to stay severed for long.
Widespread reports from Spain have asserted that Toni Kroos will be returning to Los Blancos as part of the sporting structure of the team.
His exact title is still being hammered out, but it seems he already has his first assignment at the Spanish giants.
Speaking to Ramon Alvarez de Mon on his YouTube channel, Spanish journalist Joaquin Maroto has claimed that Toni Kroos will join Real Madrid’s sporting structure at the end of the season – and that he is already unofficially trying to convince Jurgen Klopp to become their next manager:
“Toni Kroos and Jurgen Klopp are the pair that interest the most. It’s the one that Real Madrid are willing to put the bet on,” Maroto began.
“Madrid need to be certain that Klopp wants to return to the sidelines. Kroos has been the one sounding out Klopp, to see if Klopp wants to make his return to the Real Madrid bench.”
“If Kroos tells the president that Klopp would be willing, at that moment Real Madrid would get to work [on bringing him],” he said.
“It’s already been decided that Kroos will join the club’s sporting structure, something that will be made official shortly – maybe a day after La Liga ends.”
Maroto added:
“His first job will then be to assess Klopp’s availability to come to Real Madrid, but the truth is he is already doing that… let’s say unofficially.”
“Klopp would only leave his position at Red Bull to coach Real Madrid – he’s not going to leave it for something else.”
Whether any of this comes to fruition is, of course, a different matter entirely. Klopp has been adamant since stepping away from Anfield in May 2024 that his energy reserves are spent, and his role as Red Bull’s Global Head of Soccer was always positioned as a deliberate move away from the day-to-day intensity of management.
He even played down Real Madrid interest, saying that Real Madrid have never called him and jokingly adding that he will manage Atletico Madrid at the same time.
For Reds fans, the very idea of Klopp resurfacing in Madrid white will feel surreal – even uncomfortable – but his post-Liverpool chapter was always going to take an unexpected turn eventually.