German icon Toni Kroos has lifted the lid on how he nearly joined Manchester United - only for the club to give David Moyes the boot whilst negotiations were still underway. Moyes was handpicked as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor at Old Trafford when the Scottish great hung up his boots in 2013.

The former Everton boss found life tough at United and was shown the door after a mere 10 months in the hot seat. But before his departure, the Scotsman was busy trying to strengthen his squad.

Kroos is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his era and landing him would have been a massive statement signingfor United. The German maestro was just 24 at the time and plying his trade at Bayern Munich.

Reports suggested he was keen on making the switch to the Premier League under Moyes. But Kroos' career path veered dramatically when United made the call to axe Moyes - whilst he was still in discussions with the midfielder.

Speaking to SPORT1, Kroos said: "In 2014, before I signed with Real Madrid, I had already agreed with Manchester United.

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"That would have been a move from Bayern to United. But then they kicked out David Moyes, who I was still sitting on my couch with in Munich and hired Louis van Gaal. Then we both declined with thanks."

Kroos opted to sign for Madrid when Carlo Ancelotti was at the helm of Los Blancos. He bagged a host of trophies in Spain, including five Champions Leagues, five Club World Cups, four UEFA Super Cups, four La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey and four Spanish Super Cups.

Kroos wasn't the only big-name signing that eluded Moyes. The former West Ham boss also missed out on Gareth Bale and Cesc Fabregas during his tenure at United.

Reflecting on this in 2016, he said: "When I first went in to United my real target was Gareth Bale. I felt all along that Gareth Bale was a Manchester United player and I fought to get him [from Tottenham ] right up until the last minute.

"We actually offered him a bigger deal than Real Madrid but Gareth had his mind made up on going to Madrid. He was, though, in my mind, the player I really wanted.

"The other one I came really close to getting was Cesc Fabregas, who we thought we would get [from Barcelona ] right up until the last minute. And Sir Alex [Ferguson] had told me there was always a chance Cristiano Ronaldo might come back from Real Madrid."

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