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While Toni Kroos has been benched for the last two game in what is somewhere between a rest and a punishment for his glove throwing tantrum, the rumor mill is still being fed by vociferous stories,(now with upgraded ammunition!) about him leaving for the Premier League and joining Manchester United or other some such non-sense in a grandiose €30M transfer.
Then today, quietly sneaking in the back door of this whole media mess is a report from Italian media outlet Tuttosport saying that a representative from Juventus has contacted Bayern Munich over the availability of Toni Kroos, with the Old Lady reportedly interested in shelling out between €15-18M for the 24-year-old.
First, I dismissed it out of hand simply because the Italian media, including Tuttosport, don't have the best reputation. Furthermore, this whole Toni Kroos saga has been beaten like a dead horse that once was alive, but died, became a zombie horse, and then was beaten to death again.
But the more you look at this rumor, the more all of the pieces start actually fitting into place. The transfer fee is in line with what a player with only one year left on their contract and on relatively low wages is expected to be worth. In this case it might actually be a little low which given the reduced bargaining power Bayern Munich has in regards to Toni Kroos. In addition, it is along the lines with the lower offers that tend to come when it seems like a club is putting out feelers on a player.
Furthermore, in direct contrast to the situations at clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea, Juventus actually has a real need for a player like Toni Kroos. Claudio Marchisio has had a rather rough year losing his starting job at the age of 28 while Andrea Pirlo's age is rapidly becoming a factor in his performance. The presence of Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal give Juventus two already sterling central midfielders, and adding Toni Kroos to that mix gives them an extremely potent, and very young, central midfield trio who all excel offensively and defensively.
In short, this is actually the first realistically sensible rumor to come out regarding Toni Kroos' future.
