The 'renewed' Kroos

The German midfielder has recovered his best level after his weak performance last season and is becoming one of the leaders of Real Madrid this course.

On May 20, just one day after Real Madrid finished its worst season in recent times, the white club surprised fans with the renewal of Toni Kroos until June 30, 2023.

His contract extension raised criticism in some Real Madrid fan sectors, who seemed to be angry about the news, seeing this as a reward for the poorest performance ever seen in the German player.

In 2014, Kroos left Guardiola's Bayern Munich to join his current team, being only 24 years old when he first landed at the Bernabeu. Sant Pedor coach turned him into a much more polished and complete midfielder, but he had to leave the Bavarian club due to disagreements with the board, who refused to put him at the same salary range than his fellow players Müller, Lahm, Neuer, Robben or Ribery.

So, Madrid went ahead of Manchester United and signed Kroos in exchange for 25 million euros. After barely having trained with the team, Ancelotti made him lead the team in the final of the UEFA Super Cup at Cardiff against Sevilla, conquering the victory 2-0.

The value of money the player already had only improved with time, resulting this transaction in one of the greatest in the recent history of Real Madrid. Undisputed first-team player with all the coaches he has had (Ancelotti, Benítez, Zidane, Lopetegui, Solari and again Zidane), Madrid’s '8' is one of the great references of the position in recent years for his consistency and understanding of the game.

Performance downturn last season

Like the vast majority of his teammates, the German player experienced a performance downturn in the catastrophic 2018/2019 season.

That is why his sudden renewal was a surprise, but the player later claimed: "we will return to the top level". "If Zidane would not want me here, I would not be here, I have talked to him and I will be important".

No doubt his words were almost like a prophecy. Kroos is the third most used player in the team (988 minutes in 12 games) after Casemiro (1140 in 13 games) and Ramos (1050 in 12 games). The German has only missed the match before Mallorca due to injury.

Besides, since the first official match against Celta in Balaidos, a more leading Kroos has been seen, doing all the hard job during an irregular course where only Benzema and Casemiro are keeping a high level. Beside his main responsibility in the game, the German is adding more and more shots, finishing off three vital goals in 12 games.

His best scorer record came in 2017/2018 when he scored for 5 days. If he keeps this level (one goal every four games) he will beat his scoring record.