Real Madrid's Toni Kroos to retire after Euro 2024

ByALEX KIRKLAND AND RODRIGO FAEZ
May 21, 2024, 8:39 AM

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos will retire from football after playing for Germany at this summer's European Championship, the player announced on Tuesday.

Kroos, 34, has won 22 trophies with Madrid since joining in 2014, including four Champions Leagues -- plus another with Bayern Munich -- and four LaLiga titles.

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The midfielder first raised the prospect of retiring in 2022, before deciding to play on for another season, but has now chosen to end his career this summer.

"After 10 years, at the end of the season this chapter comes to an end," Kroos posted on Instagram.

"I would particularly like to thank everyone that welcomed me with an open heart and trusted me. But especially I would like to thank you, dear Madridistas, for your affection and your love from the first day until the last one.

"Toni Kroos arrived at our club in 2014, and has been a fundamental player in one of the most successful periods in Real Madrid's 122-year history. During the ten seasons in which he has defended our shirt and our badge, he has won 22 titles in 463 games to date: four European Cups, five Club World Cups, four European Super Cups, four Leagues, one Copa del Rey and four Spanish Supercopas.

"Toni Kroos will forever remain in the hearts of all Real Madrid fans for his footballing excellence, and for being a player who has given everything for this shirt."

Kroos played for Bayern Munich at youth level and made his first-team debut in September 2007. He was a part of the Bayern squad that won the Champions League in 2013 before joining Madrid the next summer.

Since that time, he has been a key figure in Madrid's midfield, forming an iconic trio alongside Luka Modric and Casemiro.

"I've always said that I won't go anywhere else," he said in November 2022. "I won't change clubs. I'll retire here. The only thing I don't know is when."