It has been revealed what various Manchester United legends told Ed Woodward when asked about potential transfers for Paul Pogba or Toni Kroos.
The relationship between Manchester United and some of their club legends is complicated, particularly because many of them work as pundits who regularly criticise the team.
Ex-players like Gary Neville and Paul Scholes have been very critical of players over the last decade. Some fans would rather they get behind players more, while others think they are right to call out the poor levels.
When it was rumoured that Qatari investors were considering a move to buy United, it had been reported that they would have made some of the club’s legends key decision-makers at Old Trafford.
Funnily enough, some of those legends were asked by the former chief executive Ed Woodward about United’s biggest-ever transfer.
What United legends told Woodward about Pogba vs Kroos
Back in the summer of 2016, Paul Pogba re-joined United to become the club’s most expensive transfer of all time for £89 million. That is still the record transfer at Old Trafford.
Pogba was considered one of the best midfielders in the world at the time but the Reds were also linked to other top players, including Toni Kroos.
Kroos had been rumoured with a move to United before leaving Bayern Munich for Real Madrid in 2014 and it seems like there was an opportunity to sign him two years later too.
According to a report from MailSport, after the sacking of Louis van Gaal in 2016, Woodward met with Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Scholes to ask whether the club should sign Kroos or Pogba.
The Class of ’92 trio responded by saying United should sign them both. That was clearly not possible, although it is hard to not imagine how different United could have been if they had signed a player like Kroos.
United trying to finally fix midfield
United are looking to sign two midfielders in the summer of 2026 and finally end their mission to fix the engine room at Old Trafford.
Ever since Michael Carrick retired, they have not really had any players who could consistently control a game from deeper areas. Signing Kroos would have certainly fixed that for a while.
It is unlikely that INEOS seek the advice of ex-players like Woodward did back in 2016 but they need to make sure they get decisions right.
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