Retired midfielder Toni Kroos has ruled out any return to Real Madrid, telling Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport on 8 July that the club “knows I’m not coming back.” The 35-year-old, who ended a decade-long spell at the Bernabéu in 2024, added that Madrid are “still missing a profile like mine and are searching for one,” but said such players are scarce and expensive. Kroos praised the appointment of former teammate Xabi Alonso as head coach following Carlo Ancelotti’s departure to Brazil, calling the change “positive for everyone” while cautioning that the squad must “work together and accept defensive duties” to succeed without him. The German’s latest remarks follow comments in June in which he contrasted Barcelona coach Hansi Flick’s strict punctuality rules with the more relaxed culture he experienced at Madrid, saying Real players would have “laughed” if late arrivals were dropped from the lineup. Kroos framed the difference as a matter of “distinct philosophies” rather than a question of which method is superior.