With three Champions League titles to his name, Real Madrid star Toni Kroos has set a standard Manchester City are striving to reach yet he once looked certain to be chasing those dreams for City's cross-town rivals.
Kroos is on Wednesday set to be part of the Madrid midfield who will seek to deny City a second consecutive Champions League Final. Despite the wishes of then-Bayern boss Pep Guardiola, Kroos moved to Spain after helping Germany win the 2014 World Cup. For many months, however, Old Trafford - rather than the Bernabeu - had looked his most likely destination, and Kroos had even given his word on the transfer.
During the 2013-14 season, David Moyes was so determined to bring Kroos to Manchester United that he made a personal trip to Munich to meet the player and his family, even meeting Kroos' son Leon, who was seven months old. Moyes' wife Pamela was said to have been particularly taken by Leon.
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has set a standard Manchester City are striving to reach
At the time, Kroos felt undervalued at Bayern Munich and after speaking to Moyes, he and his partner Jessica were convinced to make the move.
'I knew beforehand that United wanted me,' said Kroos. 'And Moyes absolutely underlined that. It was a really nice afternoon with very pleasant people.. We talked a lot about United's football plan, which convinced me.
'But we also got to know each other as people. We knew quite a bit about the Moyes family afterwards. We talked about how we lived and how we all imagined life as a family.
'In the end we broke up to do it. So we agreed verbally. The next step should be to look at everything on the spot in Manchester. The move would not have been that complicated - after all, we only had one child at the time, seven months old. It would all have worked.'
Kroos will look to deny City a second consecutive Champions League Final on Wednesday
