Toni Kroos wants to retire at Real Madrid after signing new deal
Thursday 13 October 2016 15:21, UK
Toni Kroos says he wants to retire at Real Madrid after signing a new long-term contract extension at the Bernabeu.
The German World Cup winner moved to the Spanish capital in 2014 for a fee of around £27m after rejecting a new contract offer from Bayern Munich and helped Real win the Champions League last season.
It was announced on Wednesday the 26-year-old had agreed a new deal through to 2022 and, as well as targeting the La Liga title, he told reporters he could not see himself playing anywhere else before he calls time on his career.
"My plan is to retire here," he said. "I don't sign contracts on a whim. It's a six-year deal and I'm committed to playing each of those six years here.
"I'll be 32 when it finishes and it's a great opportunity to finish my career here. I can't see myself playing as a 36-year-old.
"I want to win the league here. It's important to us. At Real Madrid you have to win everything. I've won the Champions League but I want the league. Sometimes we lack consistency and that's perhaps why we haven't won it.
"I'm very happy. Since my first day here I've really felt welcome here. The love from the fans has been very special too. It's also really nice that they value me so much that they announced the deal on a national holiday."
After a strong start to the season Real have hit trouble recently, drawing four successive matches in all competitions prior to the international break.
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That has inevitably raised questions and criticism about manager Zinedine Zidane, but Kroos was dismissive of that.
"I don't read the papers much and I don't know what's been said, but Zidane is invaluable for the club," he said.
"We've drawn a lot of games, which isn't good, and we deserve criticism. But there have been games that we've drawn that we deserved to win. It's important that we keep playing as a team."
Real Madrid travel to play Real Betis on Saturday night, live on Sky Sports 5 HD.
