Thanks to their status as one of world football’s most prestigious and wealthiest clubs, Real Madrid are generally able to sign their most desired transfer targets more often than not. As Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur have found to their cost.
In 2009, Los Blancos parted with a then-world record sum of £80m to land the Red Devils’ golden boy Cristiano Ronaldo before smashing the record four years later to snap up Gareth Bale from Spurs for £85m, while Trent Alexander-Arnold has become the latest high-profile player to make the switch.
During the Premier League era, nearly 30 players have departed the English top-flight in order to represent Real Madrid, but have they all enjoyed success after making their career-defining moves?
Steve McManaman
- Signed from: Liverpool (1999)
- Fee: Free
- Real Madrid appearances: 152
- Honours won: Champions League x 2, La Liga x 2, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup x 2, Intercontinental Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
McManaman embarked on a new challenge after spending nine years at Liverpool by joining Real on a free transfer. The shaggy-haired winger was a big hit at the Bernabeu and famously scored a brilliant volley in the Champions League final win over Valencia in 2000.
David Beckham
- Signed from: Manchester United (2003)
- Fee: £25m
- Real Madrid appearances: 155
- Honours won: La Liga, Spanish Super Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
After a spectacular falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Beckham decided to move to Spain and become one of the poster boys for the ‘Galacticos’, joining Real Madrid despite interest from Barcelona. His first three years were ultimately fruitless, but Beckham ended his time at the club by winning La Liga before leaving for MLS side LA Galaxy.
Jonathan Woodgate
- Signed from: Newcastle United (2004)
- Fee: £14.2m
- Real Madrid appearances: 14
- Honours won: None
- Hit or Miss? Miss
Due to chronic injury problems, Woodgate had to wait 13 months to make his Real Madrid debut and when he finally took the field he endured a torrid time, scoring an own goal and getting sent off. After just two years, he left for hometown club Middlesbrough.
Michael Owen
- Signed from: Liverpool (2004)
- Fee: £8m
- Real Madrid appearances: 45
- Honours won: None
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Signed in a cut-price deal with his contract at Liverpool winding down, Owen impressed despite being unable to dislodge either Ronaldo or Raul from the starting XI. In his season-long spell in Spain, Owen netted 16 goals in 45 appearances.
Thomas Gravesen
- Signed from: Everton (2005)
- Fee: £2.6m
- Real Madrid appearances: 49
- Honours won: None
- Hit or Miss? Miss
Arguably the least glamorous signing that Real Madrid have ever made, Gravesen was signed from Everton midway through the 2004-05 season to provide some steel to a midfield packed full of flair and creativity. He never quite cut it at the Bernabeu, though, and was sold to Celtic.
The running joke among Everton fans is that Madrid mistook Gravesen for their other bald midfielder at the time, Lee Carsley.
Ruud van Nistelrooy
- Signed from: Manchester United (2006)
- Fee: £10.2m
- Real Madrid appearances: 96
- Honours won: La Liga x 2, Spanish Super Cup x 2
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Similarly to Beckham, a breakdown in his relationship with Sir Alex led to Van Nistelrooy swapping Manchester for Madrid. Despite approaching the end of his career, the Dutchman impressed, scoring 64 goals in 96 matches in total.
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Jose Antonio Reyes
- Signed from: Arsenal (2006)
- Fee: Loan
- Real Madrid appearances: 38
- Honours won: La Liga
- Hit or Miss? Hit
While Reyes was ultimately unable to earn a permanent contract at Real, he will forever be fondly remembered by the club’s supporters after he scored two goals in their La Liga title-clinching win against Mallorca in 2006-07.
Gabriel Heinze
- Signed from: Manchester United (2007)
- Fee: £8m
- Real Madrid appearances: 48
- Honours won: La Liga, Spanish Super Cup
- Hit or Miss? Miss
A rugged, all-action style defender, Heinze generally performed pretty well for Real but he was largely a stop-gap in the left-back position, sandwiched between the imperious Brazilian pair of Roberto Carlos and Marcelo.
Arjen Robben
- Signed from: Chelsea (2007)
- Fee: £25m
- Real Madrid appearances: 65
- Honours won: La Liga, Spanish Super Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
In 2009, Real opted to sell their Dutch trio of Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart in order to make room for the impending arrivals of Ronaldo and Kaka. Despite being forced out, the former Chelsea winger impressed in Madrid before becoming one of the world’s best at Bayern Munich.
Jerzy Dudek
- Signed from: Liverpool (2007)
- Fee: Free
- Real Madrid appearances: 15
- Honours won: La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Dudek was signed as Iker Casillas’ understudy and he fulfilled that role dutifully during his four years in Madrid. The Polish shot-stopper was clearly popular in the dressing room as he was treated to a big send-off when he retired in 2011.
Lassana Diarra
- Signed from: Portsmouth (2009)
- Fee: £18m
- Real Madrid appearances: 117
- Honours won: La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup
- Hit or Miss? Miss
Diarra wasn’t necessarily a flop at Real but he didn’t really offer much return on the £18m investment made by the club, as he was restricted to a bit-part role throughout his four years.
Julien Faubert
- Signed from: West Ham United (2009)
- Fee: Loan
- Real Madrid appearances: 2
- Honours won: None
- Hit or Miss? Miss
Probably Real Madrid’s worst signing this century, even though he didn’t cost the club a transfer fee. Faubert could barely get a game at West Ham prior to his move and his most noteworthy contribution at Real Madrid was to fall asleep on the subs bench.
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Cristiano Ronaldo
- Signed from: Manchester United (2009)
- Fee: £80m
- Real Madrid appearances: 438
- Honours won: Champions League x 4, La Liga x 2, Copa del Rey x 2, Spanish Super Cup x 2, Club World Cup x 2, Uefa Super Cup x 2
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Real Madrid obliterated the world transfer record to secure the services of Ronaldo but he proved to be well worth every single penny. The Portuguese superstar netted 450 goals in 438 games for the club and is their all-time leading marksman. After establishing himself as one of the best players of all time, he swapped Madrid for Turin and Juventus, where he won two Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italianas. He returned to Man Utd for 18 months and has since been at Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr, where he’s believed to be on the biggest sports contract ever.
Xabi Alonso
- Signed from: Liverpool (2009)
- Fee: £30m
- Real Madrid appearances: 236
- Honours won: Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey x 2, Spanish Super Cup, Uefa Super Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
A year after helping Spain win Euro 2008, Alonso completed a return to his homeland following five successful seasons with Liverpool. He immediately became a key player at the base of midfield and was pivotal to Real lifting La Liga in 2012 and the Champions League in 2014.
Alvaro Arbeloa
- Signed from: Liverpool (2009)
- Fee: £3m
- Real Madrid appearances: 238
- Honours won: Champions League x 2, La Liga, Copa del Rey x 2, Spanish Super Cup, Club World Cup, Uefa Super Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Arbeloa rose through the ranks at Castilla but like so many young players found it impossible to break into Real’s first team. After establishing himself elsewhere, Arbeloa returned in 2009 and helped the club win numerous trophies during a seven-year stay.
Ricardo Carvalho
- Signed from: Chelsea (2010)
- Fee: £6.7m
- Real Madrid appearances: 77
- Honours won: La Liga, Copa del Rey
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Jose Mourinho’s most trusted lieutenant, Carvalho linked up with his compatriot for the third time in Madrid following spells at Porto and Chelsea. He was a regular in his first season before injuries and the rise of Raphael Varane, which relegated him down the pecking order and he eventually left for Monaco in 2013.
Emmanuel Adebayor
- Signed from: Manchester City (2011)
- Fee: Loan
- Real Madrid appearances: 22
- Honours won: Copa del Rey
- Hit or Miss? Hit
His stay in Madrid spanned only six months but Adebayor made some important contributions in that time, scoring crucial goals in both the Champions League and Copa del Rey, before returning to parent club Manchester City.
Luka Modric
- Signed from: Tottenham Hotspur (2012)
- Fee: £30m
- Real Madrid appearances: 597
- Honours won: Champions League x 6, Copa del Rey x 2, Club World Cup x 5, Uefa Super Cup x 5, La Liga x 4, Spanish Super Cup x 5, FIFA Intercontinental Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Initially, Modric struggled with the weight of expectation in the notoriously demanding Bernabeu, famously being named ‘La Liga’s Worst Signing’ in his debut campaign. However, since then the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner has become one of Real’s most important players, setting the tempo delightfully in midfield.
Michael Essien
- Signed from: Chelsea (2012)
- Fee: Loan
- Real Madrid appearances: 34
- Honours won: None
- Hit or Miss? Miss
Like Carvalho, Essien was one of Mourinho’s ‘undroppables’ at Chelsea, but by the time he arrived in Madrid the Ghanaian midfielder’s powers were beginning to wane as a result of recurring injury problems.
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Gareth Bale
- Signed from: Tottenham Hotspur (2013)
- Fee: £85m
- Real Madrid appearances: 258
- Honours won: Champions League x 5, Copa del Rey, Club World Cup x 4, Uefa Super Cup x 2, La Liga x 3, Spanish Super Cup x 3
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Real broke their own record by making Bale the most expensive footballer of all time in 2013 and the Welshman set about repaying his fee by scoring pivotal goals in the Champions League and Copa del Rey finals. He was unfairly criticised in his second season but bounced back emphatically.
Five seasons ago, he was once again questioned over whether he should be moved on, but his outrageous overhead kick against Liverpool in the Champions League final confirmed his quality. That said, he still found it hard to convince the Madrid support of his quality thereafter and ultimately left the club last summer before retiring after the World Cup.
Javier Hernandez
- Signed from: Manchester United (2014)
- Fee: Loan
- Real Madrid appearances: 33
- Honours won: Club World Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
The ‘Little Pea’ struggled for game time at Real Madrid but still contributed some important goals, nevertheless, most notably scoring the winner against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final.
Thibaut Courtois
- Signed from: Chelsea (2018)
- Fee: £35m
- Real Madrid appearances: 288
- Honours won: Club World Cup, La Liga x 3, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup x 2, Champions League x 2, UEFA Super Cup x 2, FIFA Intercontinental Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Courtois endured a tentative start to his Los Blancos career, showing only flurries of brilliance between the sticks, but having signed for only £35m – half of the fee Chelsea parted with for his successor – the World Cup Golden Glove winner certainly looked a tidy piece of business. And that potential has now been realised, with the Belgian showcasing his world-class dexterity at the Bernabeu, notably playing a pivotal role in winning them the 2022 Champions League last season with his phenomenal goalkeeping display in the final against Liverpool.
Brahim Diaz
- Signed from: Man City (2019)
- Fee: £15m
- Real Madrid appearances: 121
- Honours won: La Liga x 2, Spanish Super Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Intercontinental Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Los Blancos paid £15m to prise the young Spaniard away from City, which is certainly not a substantial fee by today’s standards, but for a player who has rarely featured in his career, it did seem a hefty sum at the time.
Diaz failed to make much of an impression in his first two seasons but, after returning from a successful long loan spell at AC Milan in 2023, he’s gone on to play 100 times for Los Blancos over the course of the subsequent two campaigns.
After his initial struggles, he’s transformed into a valuable asset at the club.
Eden Hazard
- Signed from: Chelsea (2019)
- Fee: £88.5m
- Real Madrid appearances: 76
- Honours won: La Liga x 2, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup
- Hit or Miss? Miss
It didn’t work out for the Belgian, owing to persistent injury problems and form, with Hazard having just seven goals to his name for Real Madrid in 76 appearances. He was a sliver of the player from the one who dazzled at Chelsea, and retired in October 2023 at the age of 32.
Antonio Rudiger
- Signed from: Chelsea (2022)
- Fee: Free
- Real Madrid appearances: 156
- Honours won: La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup, FIFA Intercontinental Cup
- Hit or Miss? Hit
Another signing from Chelsea, Antonio Rudiger joined in the summer of 2022 on a free transfer and immediately found himself in the Real Madrid starting XI. He’s gone on to stamp over 150 appearances on the board, helping the club win numerous trophies, including the Champions League and La Liga.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
- Signed from: Liverpool (2025)
- Fee: £8.4m
- Real Madrid appearances: 5
- Honours won: N/A
- Hit or Miss? TBD
After months – even years – of speculation, Trent Alexander-Arnold finally made the move from Liverpool to Real Madrid in the summer of 2025. Los Blancos paid a fee of £8.4m to release the player early so he could feature in the Club World Cup, where he made five appearances and registered two assists.
Trent will now be hoping to play a key role in the season ahead.