9 Madrid signings who were meant to be the business but weren’t

As one of the biggest and richest clubs in world football, Real Madrid have never been shy when it comes to spending big money on transfer fees. 

But for every Cristiano Ronaldo or Zinedine Zidane, there are of course going to be some high profile slip-ups. 

We’ve taken a look at some of those who were supposed to set the Bernabeu alight but never quite managed to pull it off.

Jonathan Woodgate 

Starting off with the poster boy of Real Madrid transfer flops.

Woodgate did genuinely look like the real deal during his time at Leeds and Newcastle, with the potential to go on and become one the world’s best centre-backs, so at the time there were few raised eyebrows when Madrid opted to swoop in for a £13.4million transfer in 2004.

Things got off to a bad start for the then 24-year-old at the Bernabeu though, spending over a year out with injury thanks to a previously undetected thigh problem.

And things only got even worse once he actually go onto the pitch, scoring an own goal and getting sent off in what has since gone on to be considered the worst Real debut ever.

Woodgate would go on to make just eight more appearances for Madrid, with the club eventually cutting their losses in shipping him off to Middlesbrough in 2007.

To add even more salt to the wound, three months later the centre-half would go on to be voted by fans as Los Blancos’ worst signing of the 21st century.

Jonathan Woodgate’s Real Madrid debut in 2005 after signing from Newcastle for around €17M pic.twitter.com/vpJmZqJRgb

— S Nerazzurro (@SaifNerazzurro) August 2, 2018

Nicholas Anelka 

The signing of Anelka was always set to be a risky one. During his time at Arsenal the Frenchman had gained a reputation for his temperament as much as he had for his goal-scoring abilities – but Real still opted to sign him for a whopping £22.3million in the summer of 1999.

It was not a move that would prove fruitful though, with Anelka lasting just one season at the Bernabeu. It was eventful, at least.

It took him over five months to score his first goal for the club before eventually getting suspended after refusing to train following a disagreement with manager Vicente del Bosque.

There were some high points for the then 21-year-old though; he netted his first La Liga goal in his sole El Clasico appearance and even picked up a Champions League winners medal in his home city of Paris as Real romped to a 3-0 final victory over Valencia.

The good times were just too few and…