Three years on from his move to Spain, the reasons behind Kroos signing for Real Madrid have finally been revealed. The German, despite being happy in Munich, decided to leave because he felt undervalued.
The German's decision to leave the club followed a meeting with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the Bavarian outfit's boss. Sat in his office, Kroos was denied a wage increase by the president, uttering words that hurt the midfielder's pride.
According to Stefan Reinartz, a friend of Kroos, Rummenigge told him to forget about a wage increase since he wasn't a first XI player.
"'We won't pay you any more than 10m eurors because you're not world class,' the president told him. Toni is a friend of mine and I know that it wasn't the money that made him leave, it was that the decision against a wage increase showed him that he didn't have the club's full confidence."
"Essentially, him leaving was an economic decision... but a moral one too. Toni knew how much Götze and others in the age bracket were earning, but Bayern didn't want to pay him more than 10m euros and he needs confidence to be happy. He knew he was a world class player, and that was the turning point," Kroos' friend concluded.
The person who did everything possible to keep him at the club was in fact Pep Guardiola. The manager didn't want him to leave under any circumstances, but Rummenigge didn't change his mind. It's possible that now, seeing how things turned out with Götze, Rummenigge is regretting his stance.