On his podcast ‘Einfach mal Luppen’, a German show co-hosted by his brother Felix, Toni Kroos had a really nice segment where he spoke about his teammate Fede Valverde.

On his first impressions of meeting him

“I remember it was during the tour of the 18-19 season in the United States. Our physio warned me to keep an eye on him because he knew I was his idol. I immediately realized that he was a great guy. Very quiet and humble. That was what I liked the most about him. He didn’t act differently because he traveled with us. He gave everything in each training session without fear of anything. I was watching him on the field and out too.

“I’ve always liked the way he played. Seeing him on the pitch you knew he could grow a lot and become a special footballer. At first he was more irregular in his game, but he always wanted to improve and gradually earned the coaches confidence.

On his recent Tweet proclaiming that Fede is one of the best three players in the world

“My tweet the other day was because he is in excellent form and playing like this with the level that the team shows is special. Regardless of his current moment, I think he is a great player” .

Fede’s best role and future

“He is also very fast with the ball on the run, he has a great pass and has very good game ideas. His shot has always been incredible and now he is seeing himself with his goals. He can play more like a winger but also an 8. To be honest that is where I see him more and more in the future. What I see now in his game is what he always was, very humble. I think he will be a world class player for Madrid at least the next ten years.

“If he continues like this, I see no limits. He is very, very complete. If he doesn’t see a solution with the ball at some point, then he takes the ball and goes straight to the rival goal (laughs). I’m a big fan of Valverde.