News broke on Thursday morning that Toni Kroos would stay at Real Madrid for another year. The Germany international is, without a doubt, a club legend. His exploits in the midfield are some of the best the club have ever seen, so fans are understandably very excited about seeing the magician play for another year.
2 winners and 2 losers from Toni Kroos staying at Real Madrid
But what does it mean for the rest of the Real Madrid squad? Let’s take a look and run through the 2 winners and 2 losers from Toni Kroos staying at Real Madrid…
1. Jude Bellingham (winner)
Since arriving in the summer transfer window, Jude Bellingham has formed a great relationship with Toni Kroos, both on and off the pitch.
The two midfielders who are often paired together under Carlo Ancelotti clearly have great respect for each other. In a prosperous bromance, Jude and Toni are constantly seen praising each other to the media.
Bellingham is the type of player who benefits when learning from the best players in the world. This is why his talent has accelerated massively since joining Real Madrid (despite growing impressively whilst at Borussia Dortmund and Birmingham City).
Therefore, Bellingham will take great enjoyment from learning under Toni Kroos for another season.
2. Alphonso Davies (winner)
Certainly taking a risk with this one, considering Alphonso Davies isn’t a Real Madrid player, yet. For this instance, let’s just imagine he is (wishful thinking, right?)
Should Alphonso Davies join Real Madrid in the summer, he must communicate with his new teammates. As a Canadian international who was born in Ghana, he is blessed with a wide language range, however, they will only align with some Real Madrid players.
According to The 4th Official, Alphonso Davies is fluent in French and English, while picking up some German during his time with Bayern Munich.
Toni Kroos is used to the art of learning a new language. While it may have been a struggle, he has adopted Spanish as his second language well, even giving interviews in Spanish. His first language is German, so communicating with Alphonso Davies will be easier for Kroos than other Real Madrid players who may not speak French, English or German.
It’s these simple things which people can often overlook but they go a long way in making new players feel welcome.
3. Dani Ceballos (loser)
Dani Ceballos has until 2027 remaining on his Real Madrid contract. However, given his lack of game-time, he could be shifted from the Spanish capital sooner than 2027. This season, Ceballos has racked up a measly one La Liga start. Coming off the bench in another 13 matches, Ceballos is surely at the stage of his career where he seeks more game-time.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, Toni Kroos extending his stay in Madrid will only keep Ceballos in the same hierarchical position. He will continue to rot away on the bench, despite entering the peak of his physical powers.
Ceballos is already on thin ice between now and the end of the season. As much as he is a team player, he is bound to feel hard-done-by to not start many matches this season. Unfortunately, he is growing surplus to requirements and this contract extension for Toni Kroos is not promising for him.
4. Arda Guler (loser)
The Turkey international is in high spirits after scoring his first La Liga goal recently. Ageing at 19 years old, Guler is in for a bright future, but the feeling can’t be helped that he has wasted his first year at Real Madrid, through no fault of his own.
Arda Guler is linked with a move away from Real Madrid. Just this week, Bayern Munich began to show their interest in a PERMANENT transfer. It remains to be seen whether or not Real Madrid are interested in selling their young sensation after just a year, but it doesn’t look likely. Particularly since they’ve not seen much of him.
Guler could be sent out on loan, though. In my opinion, the news that Real Madrid have extended Toni Kroos’ contract by one more season should serve as notice that Arda Guler WILL be sent out on loan next season. After all, if he isn’t getting game-time now, then it’s not likely to improve by much next season.
Spending some time on loan will benefit Guler but it will serve as an annoyance to him, particularly since he could’ve spent this season on loan, in hindsight.
