Real Madrid has always been a club that isn’t afraid of splashing the cash to get the signatures of the most sought-after players in the history of the game. They were famous to have set up, arguably, the best lineup in history in the 2000s with players like Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Nazario, and Roberto Carlos.
Again, in Florentino Perez’s second stint as club president, the Bernabeu was home to some of the superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Angel Di Maria playing in it. However, the history of transfers in the Spanish Capital hasn’t been all rosy. For every Cristiano Ronaldo or Sergio Ramos, there has been one Kaka or Eden Hazard.
90min's Manas Pratim Sharma have rank the club’s five most disappointing transfers of all time.
5. NICOLAS ANELKA
Real Madrid took a huge gamble when they signed the Frenchman, Nicolas Anelka from Arsenal in the summer of 1999. Anelka had mesmerized everyone with his form in the 1997/98 season, he was the highest goal-scorer for Arsenal and was voted the PFA Player of the Year. However, he couldn’t replicate his form in the subsequent season and fans picked on him. The English press even gave him a nickname, ‘Le Sulk’.
Real Madrid won the race for the player’s signature the next summer and hoped for a change of fortune for the Frenchman. A transfer that cost Los Blancos 35 million euros, per Transfermarkt lasted just for one season and was then sold to PSG for half a million less than what he was bought for.
Though Anelka lasted just one season in the Bernabeu, it was an eventful season. His scoring form, however, took its time to resume. His first goal from the club since his summer signing came in October. He netted in key games like El Clasico and in the knockout stages of the Champions League. He’d eventually be a part of the team that won the Champions League in the 1999/2000 season.
However, Anelka’s signing remains a disappointing one. He was an impressive player who was supposed to step in as a marquee signing. But, his stay was cut short due to repeated falling out with the club management and coaching staff. This also featured an infamous 45-day ban for the player. In the end, the club had to let go of him. Madridistas wish there was a better story for the impressive Frenchman at the Spanish Capital. This was it for Anelka.
4. DANILO
On number four, is a player who was brought in as a smart buy to add depth to the squad. The Brazilian, Danilo, was someone who impressed the club’s scouting staff with his consistent performances for FC Porto. Real Madrid decided that he was the one to compete with Dani Carvajal at right-back and signed the Brazilian at a hefty 31.5 million euros deal from the Portuguese giants in 2015.
Contrasting to his outings with FC Porto, Danilo wasn’t able to succeed in the white shirt. He admitted publicly that the pressure at Real Madrid is too much. There were points in games when the fans were booing him. Also, one of the best emerging players in that position was his competitor in the club itself and all of that hampered the player’s mindset.
“An error, no matter how small, goes viral,” he lamented. “A mistake becomes very great even if it is small. But, of course, when you do something good, it is also very great.”
Danilo’s attacking involvement had taken a hit at Real Madrid. He could only score three goals in 41 official matches that he played for the club in his two seasons. He was later sold to Manchester City for a loss of 1.5 million euros. He’d spent two years with the English club and raised his stock to move to Juventus in 2019 for a hefty 37 million euros deal. At Real Madrid, however, he won two Champions League titles in two seasons without any major involvement.
3. ASIER ILLARAMENDI
The iconic Xabi Alonso’s playing years at Real Madrid were coming to an end and Real Madrid had to find a replacement. As such, what would be better than a young player making headway in the same league? Real Sociedad’s youth product Asier Illaramendi was making quite the name for himself with his impressive performances for the club. La Real qualified for the Champions League for the first time in ten years in the Champions League and Real Madrid thought they had found the perfect replacement.
As Real Madrid always does, they splashed their cash and won the race for his signature for 32 million euros in 2013. This made him the most expensive Spanish signing in Real Madrid’s history at that time. However, the Spaniard couldn’t live up to all the expectations the fans had for him at the Bernabeu.
He could never recover from homesickness at Real Madrid and his qualities as a holding midfielder seemed inadequate for Real Madrid’s standards. He had one of the hardest times covering up for Real’s backline and could never really justify himself as the replacement for the iconic Xabi Alonso who had departed to Bayern Munich.
The club was forced to sell the Spaniard after two miserable seasons at the Spanish capital for a massive loss, making him one of the biggest big-money flops at Real Madrid. He was sold back to La Real at 15 million euros and now, he wears the Captain’s armband for them. He is already a club icon at Sociedad and would probably retire as a legend!
2. RICARDO KAKA
Real Madrid were on a roll in 2009. They brought in Manchester United Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, Lyon’s hardworking Karim Benzema, and AC Milan’s Balon d’Or winner Ricardo Kaka all in the same summer’s window in 2009 to form one of the most deadly attacking line-up in the club’s history. These were all players brought in to become legends. One has already departed with the legend tag, one is still writing the best chapters of his legendary story. However, their Brazilian partner went down an unusual route.
There was hardly a better sight in football in 2009 than Kaka gliding with the ball. However, he couldn’t replicate the same at the Spanish capital. His Real Madrid career remained riddled with injuries and that stopped a partnership for the ages from developing. Kaka only made 120 official appearances for the club and scored 29 goals in them. Way below the standards he set as his former self in Italy.
Kaka would also count as one of the biggest money flops in Real Madrid history as the Brazilian was allowed to depart to his former home AC Milan on a free transfer in 2013 after four uneventful seasons. He was bought for a record 67 million euros deal. There surely were highlights that included one LaLiga triumph but that wasn’t how Real Madrid hoped his story would unfold at the Bernabeu.
Kaka was also eventfully the last player to win the coveted Balon d’Or before the Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi domination of the award began. In 2018, it was another Madrid man, Luka Modric, who broke the chain!
1. EDEN HAZARD
The list would have had Kaka at the top had this transfer not happened. This transfer undoubtedly deserves to sit atop this list which is obviously a terrible thing for a player as well as the club. Bought for a record 115 million euros deal from Chelsea, Eden Hazard was supposedly the replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo’s superstardom, the goal-machine who had departed to Juventus for a new challenge after winning every possible award with Los Blancos.
Hazard’s story at Real Madrid, however, has been a sad one. It is yet to see if there’s a happy ending for the Belgian at the Spanish Capital but so far he has only been a waste of transfer budget, that too, a massive 115 million euros.
Hazard had all qualities required to be a prolific player. It is easy to understand why Real Madrid would splash that much cash for the then Chelsea man. But, things haven’t gone the way the club would have wanted. He has been injured for more matches than he has been fit to play and this season seems to be his ultimate season with Los Blancos amidst rumours about a Chelsea reunion or a move to Newcastle United.
Hazard was voted the most disappointing Real Madrid transfer of all time by a poll conducted by MARCA. He is leading all the wrong lists, he is the player that needs to be offloaded first for some fans. For others, he has been the one that needs more minutes. And for others, he has been the biggest big-money flop.