Ranking Madrid’s 15 weirdest signings so far this millennium

Real Madrid have signed some huge names since 2000 – but they’ve also made plenty of signings in that time which were a little harder to explain.

We’ve limited this to the 21st century, ruling out the famous Robert Jarni saga, but we still had little trouble putting together a list of signings which either at the time or now, looking back, makes you say, “eh?!”

They’re ranked, as always, from least to most weird.

15. Carlos Diogo

Or am I thinking of Pablo Garcia? Uruguayan guy. Signed in 2005, barely played and then disappeared forever.

14. Pablo Garcia

Or am I thinking of Carlos Diogo? Uruguayan guy. Signed in 2005, barely played and then disappeared forever.

13. Javier Hernandez

You’re going to be at a house party and someone’s going to ask you who scored the goal that knocked Atletico Madrid out of the 2014-15 Champions League.

You’ll look at them blankly, and after a little while they’ll give you a clue and tell you it was a Real Madrid player.

You’ll leave the party without learning it was Javier Hernandez, signed on loan less than a week after playing for Manchester United in a 4-0 defeat to MK Dons, because you’re too busy trying to figure out who invited the nerd who asks Champions League trivia questions at parties.

12. Jerzy Dudek

Big European clubs trading backup goalkeepers like candy is nothing new, albeit it’s bizarre to push for an international recall by moving to a club where you know you’re almost certain not to play, but there’s a separate, weirder symmetry to the Dudek deal.

The Polish goalkeeper joined from Liverpool, where he was barely playing due to the presence of Pepe Reina, in 2007, and to make room for him, Real Madrid parted ways with existing backups Diego Lopez and Kiko Casilla.

Then, after the Pole departed in 2011, Madrid were forced to invest in new backups over the next few years. Who did they bring in? Diego Lopez in 2013, followed by Kiko Casilla two years later.

11. Guillermo Varela

The B-team system in Spain can often lead to moves like Varela’s, but we’re really not used to seeing English sides on the other end of things.

Varela couldn’t break into David Moyes’ Manchester United team – yeah, we know – and was loaned out by Louis van Gaal almost as soon as he arrived. No huge surprises here, but the strange part is that he was loaned to Real Madrid’s reserves, like a Uruguayan Andy Kellett.

Real Madrid Castilla players have occasionally been called up for Champions…