Manchester United’s manager was sat on my sofa – then he was fired and I won 22 trophies

Manchester United made a decision in 2014 that saw a star player snub an Old Trafford move that earned him 22 career trophies.

Manchester United‘s transfer successes over the last decade have been more misses than hits under several managers, with over £1.6 billion spent on players since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

Only a select few have succeeded, from big-money purchases such as Paul Pogba and Antony to huge contracts given out to footballing legends such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

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Although Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s new INEOS-led United is completely flipping the club’s transfer policy on its head, a 2014 transfer may have changed everything had United not sacked David Moyes.

Moyes, who took charge after Sir Alex Ferguson left United, only lasted ten months but was in the process of securing one of football’s most decorated ever midfielders, Toni Kross, before he was fired.

The story between Kroos and United is not unfamiliar. The club famously scuppered the transfer after appointing Louis van Gaal following Moyes, but the former German footballer has now revealed that the deal even included a personal visit from the Scottish manager.

Speaking recently, Kroos revealed that, as United looked to strike a deal with Bayern Munich, Moyes visited his family home in Munich and sat on his sofa as part of an effort to finalise the transfer.

“They sacked David Moyes, who I was still sitting with on my sofa in Munich,” he explained on his most recent podcast episode of Einfach mal Luppen, as quoted by MD.

“It was very nice for him to be sitting in our house with his wife. Then they hired Van Gaal, and we both politely declined.”

Following this, Kroos secured a transfer to Real Madrid for a fee reported to be around £20-25 million in 2014, and the rest was history.

Kroos went on to win 22 trophies across ten seasons at Real Madrid, including five Champions Legaue titles, and the World Cup with Germany in 2014.

United, meanwhile, have struggled to find themselves a solid midfield for almost a decade. In a parallel world, Kroos may have joined United, and who knows what successes may have formed from that moment.

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