As it was recently reported that Manchester City are keen on signing Toni Kroos, what Declan Rice once said about him is worth revisiting.
Speaking to GOAL in an interview alongside Yaya Toure almost a year ago, the Arsenal dynamo reflected on his experience facing the Real Madrid legend at Euro 2020.
Declan Rice admitted that Manchester City-linked maestro Toni Kroos is the toughest opponent he has faced in his career so far.
Declan Rice names Manchester City-linked midfielder Toni Kroos as his toughest ever opponent
It was claimed on Friday by Defensa Central that Pep Guardiola is particularly interested in signing the German international, whose contract expires in the summer.
In fact, Zinedine Zidane also tipped the ageing midfielder to go down as an all-time great in 2020, which has gone on to be the case.
As Manchester City continue to get linked with a transfer for Toni Kroos, how much of a tough time Declan Rice had against him is reflective of his brilliance.
“He was causing so many problems, constantly on the move, finding space”, Rice recalled when singling him out as the most challenging opponent he has ever come up against.
“You try to press him, he plays one-touch. You take two or three touches; he was just so composed and this run, the famous run where the ball goes wide and he runs behind the back of the midfielder, the cut back, it’s impossible to stop.”
Toni Kroos is a legend of the game but signing him would be impractical
Declan Rice is spot on about Toni Kroos’ excellence and if Manchester City were to sign him, they would be adding a world-class player to their roster.
However, at 33 years of age, it would be uncharacteristically short-sighted for City to try and sign the Los Blancos great.
With Kevin De Bruyne also 32 and Mateo Kovacic set to turn 30 next year, the treble-winners would be silly to target yet another ageing midfielder.
