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It's not secret that Bayern Munich are looking to lock up Toni Kroos for the long term with a new contract. The Bayern Munich board have been stating as much for going on six plus months now. With new contracts handed out to Jerome Boateng and David Alaba, it was always their next course of action to lock up their star 24-year-old central midfielder. Now after months of hand wringing by Bayern Munich fans the much anticipated extension has completely stalled out.
After the weekend's crazy antics and Toni Kroos' link with Manchester United following David Moyes apparent hosting by Toni Kroos' agent at Borussia Park, the 24-year-old commented to Kicker (translation via Sky Sports) "I can not rule anything out"..."Actually there are yet no further talks (regarding a new contract) scheduled. I will therefore fully focus on the second half of the season."
That sent everything into overdrive with Chelsea reportedly jumping on the bandwagon with an absolutely ludicrous "name your price" option along with the continued explosion of farcical tabloid mess that places like Caught Offside, the Metro, the Mirror and others pump out like so much effluent.
Much of this deal isn't hinging on Kroos being dissatisfied. It's all over dollars and cents with the Bayern Munich board being somewhat reluctant to commit such high wages to yet another player. Apparently, Toni Kroos currently makes something in the range of €4M a season which is a relative pittance when compared against the reported €10M players like Ribery, Götze, Schweinsteiger and recently signed Robert Lewandowki are set to make. Kroos is apparently angling for a doubling of his wages to something like €8M. However, adding another near €10M wage bill onto that pile would be extremely dissatisfying for any team, even Bayern Munich.
The only problem is that Bayern Munich are stuck between a rock and a hard place as there is probably not a Bayern fan in the world who doesn't think Toni Kroos has been miles above and beyond his counterparts in quality this season. Toni Kroos was absolutely incredible last season under Jupp Heynckes. Those performances pale in front of what he's done this season as Bayern Munich's midfield metronome. He's become the most complete midfielder in the world. He can make it happen offensively, defensively, in possession, in attack, and he can put it in the goal with one of the most thunderous shots on the planet. That kind of player is difficult to assign value to.
One concern many voice in respect to these kind of deals is the concern that players might try to take advantage of Bayern Munich's financial wealth to extract more money. But the problem in applying that logic to this case is that Toni Kroos has no equal (excepting perhaps Arturo Vidal). There is absolutely no reason why Karl Heinz Rumenigge and the Bayern Munich board should be stalling on getting this deal signed and sealed, locking Toni Kroos up in red for the next 5 years. If they don't see Toni Kroos as worth that much, they're not reading the winds correctly.
