Toni Kroos says Bayern Munich will win Bundesliga title, wants Julian Nagelsmann to win it

Often times in the recent past, when Toni Kroos speaks about Bayern Munich or his own, personal tenure at the club, what he says seems to be laden with controversy or speculation. In particular, Kroos and Uli Hoeness have had their fair share of verbal jousts recently, but Kroos still feels his old side are going to be crowned Bundesliga champions for the tenth consecutive season. Speaking to Bild am Sonntag over the weekend, Kroos expressed his belief that Bayern still has what it takes to lift the meisterschale once again, despite all of the changes they’ve undergone this summer (Bild).

Bayern has lost David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, and Javi Martinez this summer. Add to that the fact that Lucas Hernandez, Alphonso Davies, and Marc Roca are working their way back from respective injury problems and Julian Nagelsmann’s squad selection will raise some question marks. He has some difficult choices to make for Bayern’s season opener against Borussia Monchengladbach. Despite Bayern’s injuries and key summer departures, Kroos still feels they have the best squad in the Bundesliga and will thus win the title again; “The answer is not difficult: Bayern. Because they have the best squad. There will be phases in which they will have problems. There have been such phases in recent years, but in the end it will still be enough,” the Real Madrid midfielder explained.

For non-Bayern players or former Bayern players, there’s arguably a underlying sense of desire for a new Bundesliga champion. No one has beaten out Bayern since Borussia Dortmund back in the 2011/2012 season when they were managed by Jurgen Klopp. Dietmar Hamann as well as FC Koln manager Stefan Baumgart both recently said they think Bayern will be dethroned this season, but Kroos still has an affinity for his former side and is rooting for some of his Germany teammates. “I don’t see it from the normal fan’s point of view. Most of the faces I know are still at Bayern, a few guys I like, like Joshua Kimmich. So I wouldn’t mind if they became champions again,” he said.

While he got to two separate DFB-Pokal finals with RB Leipzig as their manager, this will be another season where Nagelsmann has a serious chance of winning silverware for the first time as a manager. He’s shown how positive he can be with his tenures at both Leipzig and TSG Hoffenheim and Kroos is really pulling for the 34-year-old to win in his first season in charge of Bayern. “I also wish the title for Julian Nagelsmann because I believe he will be a top coach. And a league title in the first season will certainly make his start at Bayern easier,” Kroos insisted.

Lastly, Kroos gave one of the more straight forward predictions that certainly doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out. Following up on his record-breaking season of 41 goals in the Bundesliga, Robert Lewandowski is who Kroos thinks will collect yet another Torjägerkanone. “If everything goes normally, Robert Lewandowski will do it again,” he said without any hesitation.