Toni Kroos once came within a whisker of signing for Manchester United, only for a managerial sacking to derail the move. The German icon, who enjoyed glittering, trophy-laden spells at Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, is widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders and most technically gifted players of his generation – and very nearly found himself pulling the strings at Old Trafford.

In 2014, Kroos had agreed to join United after deciding to leave Bayern. He even held talks with then-manager David Moyes to discuss his role and was ready to put pen to paper. But everything changed a few weeks later. “Before I signed with Real Madrid, I had already agreed terms with Manchester United. That would have been a move from Bayern to United,” Kroos later revealed. “David Moyes had come to see me and the contract had basically been done but then Moyes was fired and Louis van Gaal came in, which complicated matters. Louis wanted time to build his own project.

“I didn’t hear anything from United for a while and started having doubts. Then the World Cup started and [Real Madrid manager] Carlo Ancelotti called. And that was it.”

What would have made Kroos’ move to United in 2014 even sweeter was the fact that he also turned down Liverpool around the same time. Both Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez personally reached out, sending text messages in a bid to lure him to Anfield – but to no avail.

“It wasn’t a straight chat-up line but they offered to tell me more about the club and so on. The funny thing was, Suarez was about to leave to Barcelona anyway,” Kroos told The Athletic.

After the Kroos deal collapsed, United shifted their focus to Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas, but the Spaniard chose Chelsea instead. They then targeted Thiago Alcantara, only to find Bayern unwilling to part with him. In the end, United settled for Ander Herrera and Daley Blind as their major midfield reinforcements that summer.

Meanwhile, Kroos played a pivotal role in firing Germany to World Cup glory in Brazil before launching not only a legendary spell at the Bernabeu, but also an iconic midfield partnership with Luka Modric.

It took a couple of seasons for the major silverware to start flowing, but once it did, it came in torrents. With Kroos as the metronomic heartbeat of the side, Los Blancos claimed four La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey and five Champions League crowns – including an unprecedented hattrick between 2016 and 2018 under Zinedine Zidane.

For United, Kroos remains one of their biggest what ifs – part of a long list of elite players the club narrowly missed out on, alongside the likes of Ronaldinho, Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer to name just a few.

But given the club’s turbulent trajectory over the past decade – and the extraordinary success Kroos went on to enjoy in Madrid – it stands as one of the great sliding-doors moments in Old Trafford history.