Manchester United, like every other big club, have their fair share of ‘sliding doors’ moments over the years.
These are the decisions made in the present that can alter the trajectory of future events, such as Mark Robins’ FA Cup third-round goal in January 1990 that is said to have saved Sir Alex Ferguson’s job.
The Red Devils can add another of these moments to their ledger, as the decision to part ways with a coach led to them missing out on one of the modern era’s best midfielders.
Why Manchester United missed out on four-time Champions League winner
Louis van Gaal was in charge at Old Trafford for two seasons (Image credit: Getty Images)
We’ll pick up this story in 2014, when David Moyes was struggling to live up to the mantle of Sir Alex Ferguson’s ‘Chosen One’ after replacing the legendary manager in the Old Trafford dugout.
The former Everton boss was relieved of his duties in April, just ten months after succeeding his compatriot, with the Red Devils seventh in the Premier League table and having just missed out on qualification for the Champions League.
Toni Kroos celebrates winning the Champions League last season in his final club game (Image credit: Getty Images)
Moyes’ departure meant that the club abandoned a move for Germany midfielder Toni Kroos, who was set to leave Bayern Munich that summer.
“I was already in agreement with Manchester United in 2014, before I signed for Real Madrid,” told Sport1 this week. “That would have been a change from Bayern to United.
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“But a change of coach eventually prevented the move to England. But then they kicked out David Moyes, with whom I was still sitting on my couch in Munich, and hired Louis van Gaal. Then we gratefully refused on both sides.”
Kroos had previously worked with Van Gaal at Bayern during the 2010/11 season, but the two parties clearly did not want to work together again, with Kroos opting to instead join Real Madrid that summer.
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He would go on to win four La Liga titles, four Champions League, plus a host of domestic and international cups during a brilliant ten-year spell with the club, with FourFourTwo ranking the 34-year-old in the top ten midfielders in the world earlier this year, shortly before he hung up his boots at the end of the 2023/24 season.
In FourFourTwo’s view, one should never get upset about things that didn’t happen a decade ago, but for Manchester United fans, the failure to sign Kroos in 2014 can’t help but sting a little bit.
The club signed Ander Herrera that summer and while the Spaniard was a solid contributor for five seasons, he was not in the same class as Kroos, who could have had a transformational effect on that squad during a time when the club failed to effectively move on from the Fergie era.
