Toni Kroos interview: ‘Nobody at Real Madrid was happy, but I wanted to leave like this’

Toni Kroos’ decision to retire from football came as a shock to many at the end of last season.

The 34-year-old midfielder was at the top of his game, a hugely important player for Real Madrid on the way to winning La Liga and the Champions League. In the summer, he featured for Germany at a home European Championship, having come out of international a few months before.

His final match came on July 5, a 2-1 defeat against Spain after extra time in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals. There was to be no fairytale ending with his national side. But with Madrid, his final steps were almost cinematic.

Kroos’ last game at club level was the 2-0 Champions League final victory over Borussia Dortmund on June 1. It was his 463rd appearance for Madrid. It was his fifth Champions League title and his 22nd trophy from a 10-year stay.

A few months into Madrid’s first season without him since 2013-14, his absence is already being felt. How could it not be? But Kroos has not gone far. He still lives in Madrid. His children go to school here, and this is where his next project is based — a new branch of the Toni Kroos Academy that opened its doors this September.

This week, The Athletic spoke with him at an event organised by fashion retailer Marc O’Polo in the Spanish capital. Why did Kroos decide to retire when he was having one of the best seasons of his career? Here, he explains.

(The conversation below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.)

The Athletic: When exactly did you decide you were going to retire? And who did you tell first?

Kroos: We told our children first — it was my decision, but I made it together with my wife. It’s not that one day I said, ‘I’m going to do this’. It was a process, we were talking about it for months. My wife is the person who knows me best and almost the only one I listen to. She knows me so well that she can read me. It was a joint decision.

It was shortly before May, but not much earlier. At the end of March or early April. I had been hesitating for three or four months, but that’s how I am: when I make a decision, that’s it. When it was made, we first told the children so that they wouldn’t read about it in the media or someone could tell them at school. Then I spoke about it to the people closest to me, who are not many.

TA: Who was the first to know at Real Madrid?

Kroos: The first was the coach because with the relationship we have… Carlo (Ancelotti) was also my first coach here, when I arrived in 2014. He deserved to know first. But on the same day, I called Florentino (Perez, Madrid president) and Jose Angel (Sanchez, the club’s general director and Perez’s right-hand man), and then colleagues I had been with for a long time.

I had been talking to the club for months and they were informed, but the final decision — the final, final one — was first communicated to Carlo and, an hour later, to Florentino.

It was about three days before the announcement (on May 21). They kept it a secret and that made me happy because it shows they are trustworthy. It’s very difficult for information not to get out and this particular case was important for me because it’s my whole career. They always made it clear in the meetings we had that I could announce it whenever I wanted to.

TA: They had also told you that you could renew if you wanted to, right?

Kroos: Yes, yes. It’s not a secret. The decision process was sad and happy at the same time. It was the end of a very nice cycle, with very nice people, in the biggest club there is and with so much success.

But I was also happy to see what I had achieved, how people said goodbye to me, for example in the Bernabeu. It’s very difficult to explain. I didn’t expect that much. A farewell yes, but you can’t expect something like that.

This makes you happy, even if you’re sad because it’s the last day. Maybe it’s that good things happened in 10 years and people are happy with you. It was more a feeling of pride — ‘look what I’ve done’ — than sadness. I wanted to leave like this. Nobody forced me to stop or leave. It was my decision and that’s why it was an easy day to enjoy.

TA: Would anything have changed your mind? Maybe a missed penalty against Manchester City in the Champions League, or if the final against Borussia Dortmund had ended differently?

Kroos: No, no. It just wasn’t a decision related to matches or results.

Nobody was happy. Some couldn’t believe it because they said it wasn’t the right time because of the level I was playing at. Despite trying to convince me, they all knew they were not going to change my mind.

Kroos applauds fans following Germany’s Euro 2024 exit (Mika Volkmann/Getty Images)

TA: What is a normal day like in your life now?

Kroos: It’s changed a lot, but I’m very happy to organise my days a bit more, which is something I’ve always wanted. I have my projects: the academy here, the league (the Icon League) in Germany, for four years now the podcast with my brother (Einfach mal Luppen — ‘Just Suck it Up’)… and I have three children.

TA: Now do you take them to school and do the things a more ‘normal’ father does?

Kroos: Well, I’ve always done that. I see Eden (Hazard) at the school too — and he also did it when he was still playing for Madrid. There are lots of active players who do less, but the two of us have always taken care of this.

Then in the mornings, I plan the training sessions with the coaches of the academy. We have to put things in order from the beginning so that it works the way I want it to. It’s a very big and important project for me. I want it to be a success.

We want to form an academy and a quality club, one that will compete with clubs here in Madrid. I’m not just putting my name on it and that’s it. In five weeks, I’ve only missed three or four days. And it’s something I enjoy. If I take on a project, I do it from the heart. This one blows my mind. Because of the lucky life I’ve had, I could have chosen anything. It was up to me and I chose this.

TA: Joselu and Nacho left Real Madrid after last season for clubs in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Given what you posted about Gabri Veiga signing for a Saudi Arabian club last year (Kroos wrote that the transfer was “embarrassing”) and the reception you got from fans there at the Supercopa de Espana in January (local supporters jeered Kroos), that was not something on your mind. But you haven’t spoken about Nacho or Joselu…

Kroos: In those examples, you see the difference. Someone who has won Champions League titles (Nacho) and who is closer to the end of his career is different to someone who leaves at 21 and wants to be a good player (Veiga, who left Celta Vigo for Al Ahli). Going so young takes you away from being a good player and winning titles if you go so early. That’s the difference.

I’m not a fan of anyone going there. But it’s different if you go like Nacho or Cristiano Ronaldo, at the end of their careers and having done everything, legends at Madrid and in Europe.

Kroos at an Icon League event in Germany in September (Max Ellerbrake – firo sportphoto/Getty Images)

TA: Do you have any plans to go into coaching?

Kroos: No, I’m not going to be a coach.

TA: You wouldn’t even consider it?

Kroos: No.

(retirement) thx for the reminder 😂 https://t.co/tIoH8wihRb

— Toni Kroos (@ToniKroos) September 4, 2024

TA: What if Carlo asked you to join him at Madrid, for example, because Davide Ancelotti (his son and assistant coach) was going to leave to start his managerial career?

Kroos: No, that’s impossible. Whenever he (Carlo Ancelotti) wants, I will always give him my opinion. But he knows why I retired. An important part of it is the amount of travel, hotels, etc. It’s never been the 90 minutes on the pitch. If that’s all it was, I could play until I don’t know when.

Sometimes he and I are in contact, it’s normal with the relationship we have, but Carlo knows there’s no point in even asking me because he knows the answer. A day at Valdebebas (Madrid’s training ground) is even more difficult as a coach than as a player. As a player you come, you do your job and you go home. As a coach, you are responsible for everyone, the first to come and the last to leave, you also have all this travel… I see myself well in the academy.

TA: Speaking of coaching, were you surprised by Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England manager?

Kroos: I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t know if he wanted this or not, but I’m not surprised that they chose him because he’s a very good coach. I loved his time in England, he speaks good English, he won the Champions League with Chelsea, he has a very good image in England.

TA: What about a future as a sporting director?

Kroos: Maybe as a sporting director, you’re a bit freer, you work more with your mobile phone, etc, but it’s impossible to be a coach. I’m a coach, but in another way, of many children.

(Top photo: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)