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Real Madrid is pretty much every footballer's dream destination. According to Luka Modric, you would be going down a step in your career if you left the Bernabeu.
Since the inception of football as a sport, Real Madrid has been at the pinnacle of the game. It is the ultimate level when clubs are concerned.
The lure of the Los Blancos is too hard to ignore and reject, owing to the fame and money the club offers their players.
However, not every player who joins the club has a fairytale to boast of. To some men, it turns out to be a tale to forget.
Real have always known to be a ruthless club when it comes to underperformers. Bad form literally means your time at the Bernabeu is up.
Also, there is hardly any emotional attachment with the players.
Madrid fans are equally cruel like the ideology of their club and hence the Los Blancos being booed by their own supporters is a common sight.
While some have been potent enough to handle the expectations of the club, some have fallen short due to the pressure.
In this slideshow, we take a look at the players whose careers were adversely affecte by the Los Merengues.
#10: Asier Illaramendi
The most expensive Spaniard that Real Madrid has ever bought, Asier Illaramendi’s time at the Bernabeu was rather forgettable.
Having become a mainstay in Real Sociedad’s midfield at the age of 20 and a member of Spain’s U-21 Euro 2013 winning squad, in the summer of 2013, he joined Real Madrid.
But, rare starts were the reason why one of the best prospects in Spanish football became a forgotten man.
He rejoined Sociedad in 2015, with Real making roughly a $25 million loss on the midfielder.
Unlike many others, Illaramendi got 90 games to prove his ability to the club.
But, he was never able to reach the level he did at Real Sociedad, making the move extremely worthless.
#9: Jonathan Woodgate
English players are known to fail in any other country than their own.
Only David Beckham and Gareth Bale have been able to make a mark abroad, with both plying their trades for the Los Blancos.
Jonathan Woodgate was a surprise signing for Real Madrid, concerning his injury-prone career.
And, as luck would have it, his debut turned out to be the worst ever seen in the game.
The English defender scored an own goal and was later sent off to the courtesy of a second bookable offence.
The rest of his spell didn't turn out decent either. In a span of three years, Woodgate appeared only 14 times in the famous white shirt.
His constant injuries were another crucial reason for his rapid decline at the club.
Woodgate left Real Madrid for Middlesborough in 2007.
#8: Nuri Sahin
Turkish international Nuri Sahin was a key player at Borussia Dortmund when he joined Real Madrid aged 22. But, the move turned out to be a disaster instead of a fairytale.
Being named as the Bundesliga Player of the Season in his final season at the Signal Iduna Park, Sahin was expected to be a major player in the coming years.
However, all the expectations were shattered when the German-born player appeared only 4 times for the Los Blancos and was loaned out twice.
Sahin eventually joined Borussia Dortmund again in 2013. However, the midfielder has never been able to replicate his form in the first spell with Dortmund, struggling for first-team opportunities.
#7: Javier Saviola
Javier Saviola was one of the 32 players to play for both Spanish heavyweights Barcelona and Real Madrid.
When he broke Diego Maradona’s record as the youngest ever Argentine Golden Boot winner, he was being touted as the heir to El Diego himself.
He joined Barcelona aged 19 and scored 60 goals in his first three seasons for the Catalan club.
In 2007 he signed for Real on a free transfer, but on a huge wage.
In two years, he played 17 games and scored 4 goals, suffering a torrid time at the club. He later scored prolifically for Benfica, but always fell short of the expectations once hoped of him.
#6: Nicolas Anelka
Mercurial French forward Nicolas Anelka announced himself on the footballing stage after scoring 23 goals in 65 games for Arsenal.
But, calamity struck him when he decided to shake hands with Florentino Perez at the tender age of 20.
In his only season at the club, Anelka found it an uphill task to dislodge giants Raul and Fernando Morientes in the forward line.
As a result, he scored only 2 goals in 19 appearances and left the club to rejoin Paris Saint-Germain.
Considered to be a travelling legend, Anelka had a decent career with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Fenerbache.
#5: Antonio Cassano
In his day, Antonio Cassano was regarded to be a troublesome forward to handle for the defenders.
Gifted with technique and vision, Cassano could have gone down as one of the greatest ever to play the game.
But, his intermittent spats with fellow players and constant fall-outs with manager Fabio Capello saw him fall from grace at an early age.
Aged 33 and back at Sampdoria, Cassano will never reach the heights he should have, and things may have turned out so differently were it not for the lure of the Bernabeu.
#4: Rafael Van Der Vaart
Rafael Van Der Vaart joined Perez at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2008 from German outfit Hamburg.
The Dutchman was possible of producing moments of sheer brilliance at his best on the pitch.
Van der Vaart was a recipient of both the Golden Boy award and the Dutch Football Talent of the Year.
However, the Dutchman was never really given an opportunity to succeed at Real Madrid. Van der Vaart was left warming the benches as a substitute in the Spanish capital.
While his compatriot Arjen Robben did resurrect his career after joining German heavyweights Bayern Munich, the former failed to reach his peak even after leaving Real Madrid.
He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2010 but never quite made it to the level he was at in his younger times.
#3: Klass Jan Huntelaar
Dutch striker Klass Jan Huntelaar was in top-form, netting 76 goals in 92 appearances for Dutch champions Ajax.
But, his career hit a rock bottom after putting pen to paper with the Los Blancos.
The star striker scored 8 goals in 20 games for Real Madrid in his debut season. However, his stellar stats were deemed unfit in his only six months at Real Madrid in 2009.
The Dutchman then moved to Italy for another sole season with AC Milan, settling at Schalke 04 for seven years afterwards. He returned to parent-club Ajax in 2017.
#2: Michael Owen
Michael Owen is the last English player to win a Ballon d'Or, and was a top-class striker gifted with technical abilities.
He scored a world-class goal against Argentina in 1998 and averaged more than a goal every other game over 8 years at Liverpool.
But, the sensational English frontman was unable to refuse the lure of Real Madrid when they came hawking for him.
Owen joined countrymate Beckham but was far from what the prolific winger achieved at the Bernabeu.
Coming to Madrid he realised that he would never get a chance to oust Raul as the spearhead of Madrid's attack.
As a result, the Englishman wasted a majority of time in his peak years waiting on the benches.
He scored 13 goals in 36 games in his only season at Real Madrid but was deemed as surplus to requirements at the club.
Madrid shipped him off to Newcastle in 2005. After that, Owen did have a spell with Manchester United but remained a pale shadow of the 2002 Ballon d'Or winner.
#1: Kaka
None of us feels as bad for any other player on the list as this one.
The summer of 2009 saw the spark of a revolution in the Spanish capital, with Brazilian sensation Ricardo Kaka and Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo being signed in a span of just two weeks.
Both players had cost Real Madrid a combined fee of $135 million and were expected to make it big the Bernabeu.
While Ronaldo is still busy breaking records at Real, Kaka's story turned out to be a disaster at the club.
With Mourinho bringing in World Cup sensation Mesut Ozil, Kaka found it difficult to win a first-team place at Madrid.
His injury woes further strengthened Ozil's place in the starting XI.
As a result, he too was left warming the benches under Jose Mourinho. Kaka had won every major trophy in football when he arrived at Madrid but left as a flop.
He played 120 games for the Los Merengues and scored 29 goals, before joining AC Milan.
However, the Selecao star failed to reignite his career and currently plies his trade at MLS All-Stars club Orlando City.
