Real Madrid icon Toni Kroos responds to retirement U-turn suggestions after Laureus Awards win

When pressed on whether he ever entertained the thought of a comeback given the team's current needs, the 36-year-old clarified that he has already moved on to new chapters in his life.

Kroos added: "No, not really. I’ve never had that thought because I stopped exactly as I wanted to. I closed the book; even if I were to think about going back, though it’s too late now, I always felt it couldn’t have ended any better. Everything that came after would have been worse.

"Now I have other motivations in my life and other projects. That chapter ended well for me, and I was able to leave happy, without the feeling that anything could have been done better. I was happy, and that’s that."

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