From McManaman to Beckham, from Heinze to Cristiano Ronaldo, from Courtois to Eden Hazard, Real Madrid have signed a total of 24 players from Premier League teams in the last 20 years. FourFourTwo author Thore Haugstad briefly commented on their performance at Real Madrid and ranked them (with the exception of Hazard).
23. Woodgate
Woodgate made just 37 appearances for Newcastle in 18 months due to injuries, but even so, he moved to Real Madrid for £13.4 million in 2004 – and on the day of signing, Woodgate was injured. After joining Real Madrid, Woodgate's physical condition did not improve, and it was not until September 2005 that he made his debut at Real Madrid.
After waiting almost a year for his debut, it wasn't Woodgate's worst moment at Real Madrid. Amid the cheers of Bernabeu fans, Woodgate scored on his debut – breaking through his own door. Then, he received two yellow cards in succession and staged a nightmare-like Real Madrid debut.
Admirably, Woodgate was not knocked down, he has been trying to gain a foothold at the Bernabeu, but unfortunately the injury knocked him down again. In August 2006, impatient Real Madrid eventually went to Middlesbrough on loan and eventually stayed there. Overall, Woodgate played for Real Madrid for three years, making a total of 14 appearances for the team. In 2007, readers of Marca voted him the worst reinforcement of the 21st century.
22. Anelka
At the age of 20, Arnelka was already a difficult player to play, but that didn't stop Real Madrid from bringing him back to the Bernabeu in the summer of 1999 for £23 million. The former Arsenal goalscorer didn't want to settle down after joining Real Madrid, and his performance on the pitch wasn't outstanding – he didn't score his La Liga debut until February of the following year.
In addition, Anelka also fell out with the kind Bosque and completely became a marginal figure in the team. After 2 goals in 19 La Liga games, Real Madrid finally sent him to Paris Saint-Germain.
21. Fabel
If you don't get a starting spot at West Ham, then you certainly don't fantasize about joining Real Madrid. However, in January 2009, then Real Madrid manager Juand Ramos needed a substitute winger and set his sights on West Ham winger Faubel. In the end, Real Madrid brought Faubel to the Bernabeu on loan. Paul Merson's words were really nothing wrong: "Faubel's agent should be knighted by the Queen!" ”
During his six months with Real Madrid, Faubel did not get much chance to play, but he still attracted the attention of countless fans on the bench: against Villarreal, he fell asleep on the bench. Later, however, Faubel denied that he was asleep, telling FourFourTwo that he had only closed his eyes on the bench because he was bored.
In addition, Faubel also missed Real Madrid's training session on Sunday because he felt he should take a day off. After playing 52 minutes for Real Madrid, Real Madrid immediately sent Faubel back to London.
20. Gravesen
In January 2005, when Gravesen's contract with Everton was still six months away, his agent told him real Madrid were interested in taking him to the Bernabeu. Graveson recalled, "I told him not to joke. After seven days, however, everything was done. ”
Real Madrid needed a defensive midfielder behind Zidane and Figo, and eventually chose Gravesen. While Gravesen's performance at Real Madrid is not bad, his rough style of play and his unique way of shouting and joking on the pitch are probably even more impressive aspects.
Gravesen played for Real Madrid for 18 months. In August 2006, after an argument with Robinho on the training ground, he was sent to Celtic by Real Madrid.
19. Las-Diarra
At the end of 2008, Ras Diarra moved from Portsmouth to Real Madrid for £20 million to replace the injured Muhammad Diarra. Las Diarra was given the number 10 shirt after joining Real Madrid, but he never really made a foothold at the Bernabeu until his move to Anzhi in 2012.
18. Adebayor
The City striker joined Real Madrid on loan in January 2011. His arrival is precisely to fill the gap in the Real Madrid front line and give Mourinho more options. During the six-month loan period, Adebayor usually came on as a substitute and although he scored eight goals – two of which were against Tottenham Hotspur – they did not play much overall.
17. Owen
With a year left on his contract with Liverpool, Irving seized the opportunity to play alongside Ronaldo, Zidane, David Beckham and Raul. He signed a £8 million contract with Real Madrid in 2004. Although Irving scored 13 goals in his debut season, he was never able to replace Ronaldo and Raul at the Bernabeu, and he liked to hide in hotels for most of the year, which didn't help him integrate into the team.
16. Dudek
In 2007, Polish goalkeeper Dudek moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid, becoming Casillas' spare tire. During his four years at Real Madrid, he played only two league games – but he was still greeted by his teammates in his final game.
15. Essien
As Mourinho's favourite player, Essien joined Real Madrid on loan in 2012. The Ghanaian midfielder is indeed a very practical player, and he even often appears as a substitute in the right-back position. But his relationship with his teammates was really different, and only two of his teammates attended his party on his 30th birthday.
14. Heinze
Ferguson, who has a poor relationship with Heinze, said Real Madrid signed Heinze solely to "lure" his friend Ronaldo Ronaldo away from Manchester United – but no matter what Ferguson said, the player who joined Real Madrid for £6.8 million made his contribution in the 2008 Champions League.
13. Javier-Hernandez
In 2014, Javier Hernandez joined Real Madrid on loan in the final moments of the transfer period, playing Benzema's spare tire. While the Mexican striker scored just nine goals, one of those goals helped the team beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.
12. Reyes
Reyes, who wanted to leave Arsenal, eventually swapped the owner with Baptista and became a member of Real Madrid on loan. The Spanish winger did make some outstanding contributions to Real Madrid, such as scoring twice against Mallorca, helping Real Madrid beat Barca and win the league title.
11. Ricardo-Carvalho
Ricardo Carvalho joined Real Madrid in 2010 and quickly proved his worth – he became the team's standing starter in his debut season. However, due to injuries, his situation at Real Madrid reversed and he was eventually sent to Monaco.
10. Courtois
While we can't yet say that Real Madrid signed the best goalkeeper in the world for 35 million euros, Courtois does have a chance to rise in this list – and it's worth mentioning that after Courtois left, Chelsea had to spend almost twice the price to sign a replacement who looked far less powerful than Courtois.
Courtois, 27, still has a lot of room to grow, and in the next few years, he may be the first choice for the Real Madrid goalkeeper position.
9. Avelloya
Abeloa was a key player in Real Madrid's B team, returning to his childhood team from Liverpool for £3.5 million in 2009. While he rarely makes the list of the strongest 11, his diversity is really important for the team.
At the same time, he is also Mourinho's most important "ally" in the dressing room and a natural "Madridist", which also makes fans very excited.
8. Beckham
Although Beckham joined Real Madrid and the team had just started a difficult time – he didn't win any honors in his first three years at Real Madrid – none of this was Beckham's fault. When he left in 2007 with the honour of league title, Beckham's professional attitude had earned him great prestige and the respect of everyone.
7. Robben
In 2007, Peter Pan Robben moved from Chelsea to Real Madrid and spent two good seasons at the Bernabeu. In 2008, he helped the team win La Liga. But a year later, because of the arrival of C Ronaldo and Kaka, Robben waved goodbye to the Bernabeu.
6. McManaman
In 1999, McManaman became the second England player to play for Real Madrid after Cunningham 20 years earlier. The former Liverpool winger ended his Debut Real Madrid season with a brilliant volley in the Champions League final of Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Valencia. Although his position in the team was surpassed by Figo in 2000, he continued to play at the Bernabeu until 2003, during which time he won the league title twice with the team, as well as another Champions League title.
5. Fanny
In 2006, Van Nistelrohe went to Madrid because of Ronaldo. After joining Real Madrid, he fully demonstrated his killer nature and helped the team win the league championship for two consecutive seasons, and became the league's top scorer with 25 goals in his debut season. However, due to injury obstacles, he slowed down his progress and eventually left the team in 2010, leaving a record of 64 goals in 96 games.
4. Bell
In his debut season, Bale scored decisive goals for the team in the Copa del Rey final and the Champions League final. In the 2016/2017 season, he was even more unstoppable. However, frequent injuries forced him to stop. Although Bale had an impressive performance in the 2017/2018 Champions League final, his performance throughout the season was not satisfactory to everyone.
3. Harvey Alonso
Xavi Alonso has shown his strength at Liverpool, and after joining Real Madrid, he has continued his elegance and wisdom. During his four years with Real Madrid, he eventually won the 10th Champions League title in team history with the team.
2. Modric
Regarding Modric's negotiations, Real Madrid's negotiations with Tottenham took a long time, which also allowed the Croatian midfielder to miss the run-in opportunity in the pre-season. Although Modric struggled with his performance at the beginning of his arrival (and was even once regarded as a "parallel cargo" by fans), after Carlo Ancelotti became Real Madrid manager, the Croatian midfielder began to show his strength and continued his excellent form until now. In 2018, Modric not only won the world footballer of the year, but also the Ballon d'Or.
1.C Luo
What else is there to say? Even if it is joined at a price of 80 million pounds, it is a big bargain for Real Madrid. Since 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 450 goals for Real Madrid, making him the team's all-time top scorer. He also won the Ballon d'Or five times and led Real Madrid to four Champions League titles.
After leaving Real Madrid in the summer of 2018, no one has been able to really fill the vacancy left by C Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
（Armour）