Exclusive: 'I've been begging him all year to stay' - Jude Bellingham wants Toni Kroos to stay on at Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham has begged Toni Kroos to stay after the Real Madrid legend announced he would retire at the end of Euro 2024, the England international has admitted.

The German midfielder looks set to make his final appearance for Los Blancos on Saturday having won a World Cup, four Champions Leagues and four La Liga titles.

Kroos joined Madrid from Bayern Munich in 2014, while Bellingham followed in his footsteps last summer when he swapped the Bundesliga for the Spanish capital, in his case moving from Borussia Dortmund, Saturday's opponents.

The Champions League final will be live on Saturday, June 1 at 20:00 UK time, with live coverage on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate commencing at 18:00.

You can also watch all coverage live on discovery+.

Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the final, Bellingham said he does not want to see his team-mate call it quits afterwards.

"He's been unbelievable, I think he said it himself, it has been one of his best seasons," he said.

"You know, I'm so fortunate to be here while he's still at such a high level, and, you know, I've been begging him all year to stay.

"I think it's annoyed him to the point where he wanted to leave. I hope they don't blame me for that. It's a pleasure to play with guys like that.

"Some of my best memories this year are of when we went away to the European games, and you are there for two days straight in the hotel and you don't really have much to do.

"So you end up chatting and you get on to finals from this year that year, different games in particular and I'm sat there like a kid.

"I'm eating up everything they've got to say, those are my best memories off the pitch this year."

Madrid reached the Champions League final with a dramatic 4-3 aggregate win over Kroos' former side Bayern Munich in May.

Now the 14-time winners head to Wembley to face Bellingham's former side Dortmund.

The England international was full of praise for his old club, emphasising that they allowed him to compete at the highest level.

"From the outside, everyone's created a kind of storyline of me going against my old club and playing at Wembley back at home.

"For me, I think it's important that when the game comes up I take the emotion out of it as much as possible.

"There's a lot of people that I have a lot of respect for there, you know, they gave me the chance to play at the highest level before anyone else."

Bellingham is a key part of Gareth Southgate's plans for Euro 2024.

The midfielder has been a revelation since making his international debut, and he is looking forward to representing Madrid at a stadium he knows particularly well.

"It is a big factor [playing at Wembley], I am big on the visualisation stuff before the games.

"I like to go out and understand my surroundings and I think having it at Wembley helps because I've been there so many times and played there quite often for England.

"Like you said, even the changing rooms and stuff like that you, you feel comfortable even though it might sound stupid, but, yeah, it's a big factor."

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