Ranking the Real Madrid Galacticos: Who's the greatest?

The ‘Galacticos’ is a well-known project across the footballing world. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez decided to bring in an expensive player every year to create a team of superstars.Over the years we have seen a large amount of money spent by the capital club, bringing in some of the best players in the world. Many have gone on become great legends of the club living up to the expectations of the fans and coaches alike. But there have also been those who haven’t been able to back up their transfer fees.We have compiled a list, ranking eight Galacticos from the worst to the best after looking at appearances, personal performances, as well as the success achieved during the player's time with the club both individually and as a team. So here are the chosen eight, ranked according to the criteria mentioned.

#8 Kaka

Kaka arrived after a stellar 6 years with AC Milan. He and Ronaldo were the two big-name signings that Madrid made that season with the intention of challenging Barcelona’s firepower.

Following in the tradition of the Galactico project Real Madrid paid €65 million to Milan to secure the Brazilian’s services. Kaka had come with a high reputation, with the likes of Pele calling him the ‘complete player.’

He had won the Ballon d’Or in 2007 as well as the Champions League with Milan. Real Madrid felt like they now truly had the firepower to win the La Liga and the Champions League. Kaka had a good first season scoring nine and assisting eight in all competitions but it was all downhill from there.

Injury meant Kaka made only 20 appearances in the consequent season. After that he never looked like the same player. Kaka managed to make 120 appearances across all competitions in his four years and scored only 29 times.

Thats a very poor retrun considering the money spent on him. It basically amounts to a little above €2 million per goal. In his time at the Bernabeu Kaka did manage to win a La Liga title as well as a Copa Del Rey but couldn’t help them achieve a Champions League crown.

Two titles in four years is not what you would expect from a player considered to be one of the best in the world which is why he's at the bottom of this list.

#7 James Rodriguez

At number seven we have James Rodriguez. The Columbian international stated his desire to play for Real Madrid in the summer of 2014 after his fine performances in the World Cup earned him the Golden Boot.

Real Madrid didn’t hesitate to make the move and paid Monaco a mouth watering €80 million for their young star. It was also a marketing power play by the club after Barcelona had signed Suarez for a hefty as well in the summer.

But James hasn’t yet shown complete value for the money spent on him. In his first season, his performance was not exceptional but acceptable after scoring 17 goals in 46 appearances. He could have played more games but suffered an injury that kept him out for two months.

The 2015/16 season started brightly but after sustaining a tear in September he didn’t make an appearance until the 13th of November. In total, this season he has only made 15 appearances scoring 5 goals After Zidane has taken over his chances of first team football has taken a blow as the Frenchman prefers to play Isco in the attacking midfield role.

Rodriguez has not won a major European competition with Madrid which has only raised further questions of his huge price tag.

#6 David Beckham

Beckham has had a long and successful career but not a lot of that success has come at Madrid. Even though he spent four years at the club he didn’t achieve much in terms of silverware or personal accolades.

Beckham joined Los’ Blancos in 2003 for €35 million from Manchester United where he had won everything. He joined the likes of Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo who had arrived in previous seasons as part of the Galactico project.

Beckham’s career started well at Madrid with him scoring five in the first sixteen but a lack of titles meant his contribution lost some of its significance. The second season ended in similar fashion with Madrid finishing second and losing the title to Barcelona. But Beckham achieved a personal landmark of recording the highest number of assists.

Beckham performed admirably in the second half of his last season and lifted the only league title that he won during his four years at the club. Beckham managed only 20 goals in his 155 appearances for the Los’ Blancos. Although being a midfielder, it is still a below average retun for a player of the former United man’s quality.

Beckham only won two trophies in his four years which is €17.5 million per trophy won. Not poor but not at the level expected.

#5 Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale famously became the world’s most expensive player after Real Madrid signed him for a fee of €100 million from Tottenham Hotspur. He had already established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League during his time with Spurs with scintillating performances on the wing.

In only three years he has already won the Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, the Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Super cup. Bale was the final piece in Madrid’s now famous trio of Benzema Bale and Ronaldo famously referred to as the BBC.

He has played 109 games scoring 52 goals and has formed an admirable partnership with Ronaldo. Bale scored a wonderful solo goal against Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey final where he started his run on the halfway line, sprinted past Marc Bartra and scored past Pinto which turned out to be the winning goal.

Although Bale has played 109 games he has been plagued with several injuries throughout his career. At the start of 2013 Bale only completed 90 minutes in five of his first sixteen games. He was injured for six and substituted on or off for the other five.

This season has also seen him suffer a recurrence of a muscular injury which has made him miss a lot of game time. For the amount of money, Real have shelled out for the Welshman he should be playing more. Only time will tell if Bale will repay the transfer fee spent on him

#4 Ronaldo Lima (Brazil)

The Brazilian Ronaldo comes in fourth on this list. The star forward was another who had established himself as one of the best players in football. After his exploits in the World Cup of 2002 where he helped his country lift the trophy for a record fifth time, he joined Real Madrid from Inter Milan for a fee of €46 million.

There was an excitement in Madrid like no other when he signed for them with the club achieving a record in shirt sales. Even when he was injured the fans used to shout out his name during matches.

Ronaldo achieved the Pichichi award in his second season at Real Madrid that helped the club win the La Liga title. He amassed 110 goals in the 177 times he played for the club which is a more than decent return

The only negative about his time at the Bernabeu was that he only won a single La Liga title in his four and a half years with the club. For a player who is considered one of the finest forwards of the game it would have been better if had a few trophies to put on his glittering C.V.

#3 Luis Figo

Luis Figo is a name that angers Barcelona fans, something Real Madrid fans take great pleasure in. Figo was the target of abuse and fying objetcs during his visits at the Camp Nou but he always tried to get on with his game.

He signed from Barcelona in 2000 for a reported fee of €62 million. He was the first ever Galactico and marked the beginning of a list of expensive players to be signed by president Florentino Perez.

Figo had already established himself as one of the world’s best. He won the Ballon d’Or in his first season with Madrid as well as the La Liga title. He then won the Champions League in his second season after fellow Galactico Zidane had joined the club and was named FIFA World player of the year in 2001.

Figo has played 239 matches in the white of Madrid and scored 57 goals in that time. The former Portugese international provided Madrid with unique dribbling quality beating defenders with ease, but a more important contribution is his assist record. Figo has the second highest number of assists in La Liga history only behind Lionel Messi.

Figo won five titles in his time at Madrid. He is one of the few Galacticos and the only on this list to win the La Liga twice. His trophy cabinet also includes a Champions league, a Copa Del Rey and a UEFA Super cup.

#2 Zinedine Zidane

Zizou comes second in this list of Galacticos. Watching Zidane play was like watching a conductor dictate the Orchestra. It was truly magnificent skill combined with panache and delicate control.

Zidane was bought from Juventus in 2001 for a then world record fee of €75 million. In his very first season at the club, he won the Champions League scoring a magical left foot volley that turned out to be the deciding goal.

The elegant Frenchman was instrumental in midfield as Madrid won the La Liga title in 2002-03 season. Zidane won several personal accolades during his time at Madrid. He won FIFA’s World player of the year that season and formed a wonderful partnership with Luis Figo.

Zidane made a total of 225 appearances scoring 49 goals but more importantly, he was the provider of several goals and helped create quite a few during his time. The only disappointment is that he couldn’t win any of the major trophies more than once in his five years at the club

In a time when he played alongside the likes of Ronaldo Lima, Raul, Figo and Beckham he was able to stand out with his performances which earns him this spot on the list.

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo

And finally at number one, we have Cristiano Ronaldo simply because he is the best Galactico Madrid have had in their history and the numbers back it up. He has broken records year after year. Even at the age of 31, there seems to be no slowing down of his prolific goalscoring ability.

Ronaldo arrived at the Bernabeu from Manchester United having already won everything with the Red Devils and winning the Ballon d’Or the previous season. At that time he was the most expensive player in footballing history costing a whopping €94 million.

Ronaldo though has repaid that amount in performances. In his seven seasons with the Los’ Blancos he has scored 345 goals in 330 appearances which is an average of 1.04 goals per game.

He has only failed to score less than 50 goals in a season once and that was his first season when he managed 33. This year he’s once again on course to reach the 50-goal benchmark with 32 in 30 games.

In terms of silverware Ronaldo helped Real achieve that elusive 10th Champions League title in 2014, beating Atletico 4-1 in the final. The Portuguese has also won the two Copa Del Reys, a La Liga title, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup which adds up to a total of 7 cups in his 7 seasons which is a good return.

There have been times when Ronaldo has single handily won games for Madrid purely because of his individual ability and goalscoring prowess. His rivalry with Messi has only pushed him to become better season upon season.

This impressive list of accolades, records and trophies make him the greatest Galactico to don the white of Madrid