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The lure of Real Madrid is unlike anything in football. Madrid are one of the most illustrious and successful football teams in the world, and some of the very best players have graced the club's venerable white shirt.
The club's lofty ambitions mean trophies, the biggest ones in the sport, but not all players are able to shoulder that burden and subsequently fail to light up the Santiago Bernabeu.
Six players whose careers dipped after joining Real Madrid
Since Fiorentino Perez took over as the Real Madrid president, lavish spendings under the 'Galactico' project have seen numerous stars come and go. However, some of them were unable to step up to the plate and experienced a dip in their careers. Let us have a look at the top six such players.
#6 Walter Samuel
Despite possessing some of the biggest stars in world football, Real Madrid were struggling defensively during the early years of the millennium.
Walter Samuel was thought to be the panacea to Madrid's defensive woes. The centre-back's quality, having starred back home in Argentina with Boca Juniors and then in Serie A with AS Roma, attracted Real Madrid who splashed €25 million to acquire his services in 2004.
Samuel, however, failed to justify his price tag as well as his worth to the side. He just wasn't the leader at the back which the club were hoping him to be as Los Blancos continued to ship goals at an alarming rate.
He played 40 times for Real Madrid during the 2004-05 season, but his underwhelming performances prompted him to return to the Italian top-flight later in the summer. Samuel joined Inter Milan where he successfully revived his career and even won the continental 'treble' in 2010.
#5 James Rodriguez
James Rodriguez's stellar Golden Boot-winning performances in the 2014 FIFA World Cup were enough to convince Real Madrid to splash €75 million for his services.
Rodriguez impressed in his first season at the club, but it all went downhill for him once Zinedine Zidane took over as the manager as the player was relegated to a bit-part role from the bench.
Even a successful two-season loan spell at Bayern Munich wasn't enough to convince the Frenchman of the player's worth as Rodriguez was left high and dry on the bench last season despite Los Blancos marching to the La Liga title.
His plethora of injuries also didn't help his cause as Rodriguez, tipped for stardom when he first arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu, saw his career go horribly off the rails. Luckily for him, the 29-year old has arrived at Everton hoping to resurrect his career.
#4 Michael Owen
Michael Owen, the last English player to win the Ballon d'Or, was an absolute beast in the Premier League with Liverpool, plundering goals at a phenomenal rate and even winning back-to-back Golden Boots in the late 90s before lifting the prestigious Golden Ball award for the world's best player in 2001.
Unsurprisingly then, Real Madrid soon came calling and secured his services for £8 million in 2004,when the Galactico project was in full swing with Ronaldo Nazario, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, Raul, Zinedine Zidane and compatriot David Beckham all in the mix at the time.
However, the Englishman failed to replicate his imperious form in the Spanish capital and became a pale shadow of his former self, netting only 13 times from 36 top-flight games.
That prompted Owen to return to English shores in 2005, just a year after his dream move to the Santiago Bernabeu. But the player struggled with injuries for the rest of his career at Newcastle United, Manchester United and finally at Stoke City.
#3 Nicolas Anelka
Unlike many other players in this list, Nicolas Anelka wasn't an accomplished star when he first arrived at Real Madrid in 1999. He was just 20 at the time but was one of the most highly-rated youngsters in the circuit after his 17-goal salvo with Arsenal in the Premier League.
He was touted for bigger things after arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu, but unfortunately, his development was stalled as the Frenchman struggled to dislodge the likes of Raul and Fernando Morientes in the Real Madrid starting-XI. Anelka only played 19 times in the 1999-00 La Liga season, with most of those appearances coming off the bench.
Dissatisfied with the lack of enough game-time at Real Madrid, Anelka left the club in the summer and became a proverbial 'journeyman' footballer, enjoying spells with the likes of Manchester City, Fenerbahce and Chelsea as he won 11 trophies in total.
#2 Jonathan Woodgate
Debuts don't get any worse than that of Jonathan Woodgate, the stellar centre-back of Leeds United and Newcastle United signed by Real Madrid in 2004 for £13.4 million.
After spending the entire year on the sidelines due to an injury, his first match as a Galactico at the start of the 2005-06 season saw Woodgate score an own goal against Athletic Bilbao and then get sent off in that game.
It set the tone for the rest of his time in the Spanish capital. Woodgate was nowhere near his formidable self who took the Premier League by storm as he struggled to adapt to a new league and had a stinker everytime he took to the field.
With only 14 appearances throughout the campaign, Woodgate left for his hometown club Middlesbrough in 2006 but struggled with injury issues for the rest of his career.
#1 Kaka
When Real Madrid launched their 'Galactico 2.0' project in 2009 with a spate of big-money signings, the prospect of watching Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, the last two Ballon d'Or winners at the time, together was a tantalising one.
While the Portuguese went on to create history over the next decade, his Brazilian ally crashed and burned. Recurring injuries and poor on-field form plagued Kaka's time at Real Madrid as he made 120 appearances in four years and scored just 29 goals.
For someone who lifted the FIFA World Cup, the Champions League, the Serie A and was a Ballon d'Or and World Player of the Year award winner, it was a dramatic fall from grace as even a return to AC Milan in 2013 failed to reignite his career.
