Former Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has revealed that he was 'never' a fan of the club during his youth. The German quashed the rumours of him being a Real supporter from childhood due to pictures that emerged on social media.Kroos joined Madrid from Bayern Munich for a reported €25 million fee in the summer of 2014. He racked up 28 goals and 99 assists in 465 appearances for the Merengues, winning five UEFA Champions League titles and four LaLiga titles among various other trophies.He caught the footballing world by surprise when he announced his retirement in July 2024, right after winning his fifth UCL title with Los Blancos. He claimed that he wished to retire since he wanted to spend more time with his family.Kroos was recently bestowed with the Order of Merit of his home state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. In his acceptance speech, he clarified that the pictures of him in a Real jersey on social media were not indicative that he supported them growing up.He said (via Mundo Deportivo):"For some reason, I had a Luis Figo Real Madrid jersey. I had no idea how much that would end up helping me. I was never a Real Madrid supporter. But then this photo came out, it was all over social media. So of course, all the Madrid fans were saying: 'He's a Madridista, he's had a jersey since he was seven.' None of that is true, but the photo helped."Kroos claimed that he has always been a supporter of German side Werder Bremen, unlike how Los Blancos' fans claimed when the picture emerged."I wanted to avoid all that" - Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos explains the reason he decided to retire from footballReal Madrid icon Toni Kroos claimed that he wanted to retire from football while playing at a 'very high level'.Aged just 34, Kroos sent shockwaves through Los Blancos' fanbase when he announced his decision to hang up his boots. In a recent interview with El Pais, he explained the rationale behind his decision.He said (via Football Espana):“I spent several months thinking about this... The previous year I had already thought about retiring, but in the end I decided to renew for another year with Real Madrid, who had insisted a lot. But that didn’t change my idea, which was always to retire like this, and luckily I succeeded. I wanted to retire at a very high level. I think it’s difficult to do better than I did in my last season with Real Madrid. I left after winning La Liga and the Champions League.""The best thing is to leave it at the top. You leave with a great feeling because you are the one who has made the decision, rather than reacting to being sent to the bench because I wasn’t that good anymore or because I wasn’t as important for the team, as I was until the end… I preferred to leave myself. I wanted to avoid all that," Kroos added.Surprisingly, Real Madrid did not sign a midfielder to replace Kroos last season. They ended up paying the price, as they endured a rare trophyless campaign in the 2024-25 season.