Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos said that it will be difficult to replace the “50 goals a year” factor that Ronaldo brought to the club. Ronaldo scored more than 50 goals a season in 6 of his 9 seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The German Footballer of Year claimed that Ronaldo was a huge reason behind Real’s success in the past few years but was positive regarding the club’s chances this season.
Toni Kroos said, “We’ll see about that. It’ll be difficult to compensate 50 goals per season. Cristiano has been an important cornerstone for us in the past years, and was instrumental for our successes. In spite of that I am absolutely convinced of our team. We will again be hard to beat this term.”
The 27-year old also had a lot of praise for his teammate and World Cup Golden Ball Winner Luka Modric. He said that Modric’s performances in the World Cup did not surprise him. “It’s clear that I believed this was possible,” said Kroos. We’ve been teammates for four years now — I know what an incredible player Luka is.”
The German midfielder also added that it had been a pleasure knowing new manager Julen Lopetegui during the pre-season tour. Kroos said, “I’ve been in training for a week now and it’s exciting for me since I didn’t know the coach before. He makes a highly motivated impression. And my Spanish colleagues only said good things about him. I am looking forward to working with him.”
Real Madrid will play two more friendlies against Roma and AC Milan before starting their La Liga campaign against Getafe on 19th August.
