May 22 – Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos will retire from football after the European Championships this summer.
The German took to Instagram to drop the bombshell, which has since gathered almost seven million likes.
His last game of a decade-long stint at Real Madrid will be the UEFA Champions League final on June 1, which presents a chance for the 34-year-old to pick up his sixth winners medal.
Fans were surprised by the announcement, with the German in a rich vein of form as one of LaLiga’s leading players in a season dominated by Los Blancos.
The player seemed determined to end his career on a high note, with his clear distaste for the Saudi retirement home laid bare after publicly criticising 21-year-old Gabri Veiga’s move to the RSL last summer.
Kroos’s last professional game will be in the Germany jersey on home soil this summer.
“My ambition was always to finish my career at the peak of my performance level,” Kroos said in a post on his Instagram account.
“I am happy and proud that in my mind I found the right timing for my decision and that I could choose it on my own.”
Kroos said that the day he signed for Real “changed his life as a footballer but especially as a person and his “only thought” now is to help Real Madrid to a 15th European Cup.
“I have always said Real Madrid is and will be my last club,” he said.
“After 10 years at the end of season this chapter comes to an end. I will never forget this successful time.”
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez added: “Toni Kroos is one of the great players in the history of Real Madrid and that this club is and will always be his home.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1734895304labto1734895304ofdlr1734895304owedi1734895304sni@g1734895304niwe.1734895304yrrah1734895304