La Liga giants, Real Madrid, have a reputation for getting some of the greatest talents on their books. However, buying in bulk haven’t always worked in their favour.
Often, they’ve had to acknowledge their misjudgement and sell off their prized assets for a fraction of the buying amount. Here is a list of 10 big names who failed to add value to the Real Madrid glitterati.
On that note, here are 10 players you probably forgot turned out for Los Blancos.
#10 Hamit Altintop
Signed from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in 2011, Turkish midfielder Hamit Altintop was tipped to have a notable stint at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Sadly, he failed to find his bearings under Jose Mourinho that season and was sold to Galatasaray the next season. He won La Liga in his debut — and only — season at Real Madrid.
#9 Juanfran
When we think about Juanfran, we usually imagine him in a pristine Atletico Madrid kit, not in the historic all white.
However, with a little luck, the player could’ve indeed extended his stay at Real. He rose through the club’s youth system but couldn’t book his place in the team. After serving a loan spell at Espanyol, he was sold to Osasuna in 2006.
#8 Nuri Sahin
Central midfielder, Nuri Sahin, was signed from Bundesliga giants, Borussia Dortmund, in the year 2011. On paper, he was destined for greatness in the Spanish capital, but the Turkey international never got the opportunity to spread his wings.
Marred by incessant injuries, the player left the club in 2014, after only 10 appearances.
#7 Christoph Metzelder
Before Nuri Sahin, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid witnessed another somewhat unholy union. Don’t be alarmed, the transfer went through just fine, but neither party benefitted much from it.
Dortmund lost one of their biggest names, and Madrid got a player who never settled down in the city. After making only 31 appearances between 2007 and 2010, the player was sold to German club Schalke.
#6 Fabinho
Unlike most of the other ex-Real Madrid players on our list, Fabinho never actually signed a permanent contract with Real Madrid. He was signed on loan from Rio Ave, for Real Madrid B, but put in a bunch of impressive performances to earn a callup to the senior squad.
The current Liverpool defensive midfielder played a single game for the Whites and was then sent back to Rio Ave in 2013.
#5 Marcos Alonso
Like Juanfran, Marcos Alonso, too, rose up the Real Madrid youth system in spectacular fashion. The current Chelsea man even impressed for Real Madrid B, but that wasn’t enough for him to break into the senior squad.
The full-back made a single appearance for the first team in 2010 before being sold to Bolton Wanderers the same year.
#4 Emmanuel Adebayor
Emmanuel Adebayor was signed on loan from Manchester City in January 2011. He was never actually tipped to make much of an impact at Real Madrid, and he — unsurprisingly — failed to prove his doubters wrong.
After scoring eight goals in 22 appearances across all competitions, he was sent back to his parent club.
#3 Emerson
After being caught up in the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus were forced to sell many of their prized assets — Emerson being one of them.
Real Madrid expected the Brazilian to be an imposing figure. Sadly, despite being a part of the 2006/07 La Liga winning team, his services were deemed excessive. He was sold to AC Milan in 2007.
#2 Samuel Eto’o
Samuel Eto’o is widely regarded as one of the finest strikers of his era. However, in his early days, he was hardly as influential. He was brought into Real Madrid’s youth system in 1996 and graduated with flying colours the year after.
Between 1997 and 2000, he only made three appearances for Los Blancos and served three loan stints before being sold to Mallorca in 2000.
#1 Walter Samuel
Regarded as one of the finest centre-backs of his generation, Walter Samuel moved to the Spanish capital in 2004 — on the back of an excellent stint at Roma.
Real Madrid paid €25 million for his services but never got around to seeing him making the most of his talents. After only 30 league appearances, he was sold to Inter Milan in 2005.
Also Read: 10 players you probably forgot played for Barcelona