Manchester United Eyeing Toni Kroos As Carrick Replacement

With Michael Carrick's career winding down to his eventual retirement at the end of this season, there is understandably talk of who is going to replace the five time Premier League winning England international in the centre of Manchester United's midfield.

A first team regular since his £18 million arrival from Tottenham Hotspur, in 2006, Carrick has established himself as one of the most reliable midfielders in the game over the last dozen years, turning out 463 times for the Red Devils and lifting 12 major honours.

With all those achievements in mind, replacing the 36-year-old is going to be no small feat and that is why United are reportedly eyeing Champions League and World Cup winning metronome Toni Kroos.

Kroos

Kroos has been one of the most highly rated midfielders in Europe for years, now. Images: PA

According to the Independent, United boss Jose Mourinho wants Kroos to form part of a midfield three with Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba - a system that he believes will bring out the best in Pogba, who has been struggling for form in recent weeks, with Mourinho deploying him in a deeper role as part of a midfield two with Matic.

Kroos, meanwhile, has been a long term target of United's, with the Red Devils coming close to signing the German in the summer of 2014, only for Real Madrid to swoop and take him from Bayern Munich for a paltry £20 million. United ended up with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin as their midfield reinforcements, a year later. Neither of whom still play for the club.

Despite Kroos' importance to Real, the European and Spanish champions' struggles this term have led to widespread rumours that a major squad overhaul could be imminent, this summer, and Kroos and several others, including Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, could be shipped out to make way for a select group of Galacticos to replace them.

What do you make of the news, though? Is Kroos the right man for United or are there other options Jose Mourinho should explore?

Have your say in the comments section, below.

(H/T The Independent)

Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Toni Kroos, Michael Carrick, Real Madrid, La Liga

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

@JoeBaia