Players That Left Real Madrid At Their Peak

Casemiro has joined Manchester United on a four-year contract to put an end to a stellar eight seasons with Real Madrid. The Brazilian international join United for a fee in the region of £60 million. Some see the transfer as money motivated as the player stands to earn twice the salary he was getting at Madrid. 

Despite all being said, Casemiro will leave with a legendary status at the Santiago Bernabeu. He achieved five UEFA Champions League titles and three La Liga trophies and formed an incredible midfield trio partnership with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric. The 30-year-old defensive midfielder is at the peak of his career. 

Let’s take a look at some of the players who left Madrid at their peak.

Claude Makelele

It was Zinedine Zidane who posed the rhetorical question when Real Madrid let Claude Makelele go to Chelsea for a cheap fee of £13.8 million to buy David Beckham from Manchester United in the summer of 2003, “Why to put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the engine?”. 

Zidane’s words were fitting since Makelele was the engine room in the centre of the park and became a key piece of the Madridista set-up, providing balance and bringing a sense of order to the team in his 145 appearances for the club, as well as scoring two goals. Makelele was the undisputed backbone of a Real Madrid side that won seven titles in three years, including La Liga twice and the Champions League once. Despite all these great contributions by Makelele but the club President Fiorentino Perez said ” We will not miss Makelele. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past the opponents, and 90 per cent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways ” 

Arjen Robben

It’s crazy to think that Real Madrid broke the world transfer record twice in the summer of 2009. They bought Kaka from AC Milan for 65 million euros then later smashed the record by bringing Cristiano Ronaldo for a hefty price of £80 million. Los Blancos were spending much on that transfer window to try and put an end to Barcelona’s dominance. The arch-rival were coming from the season where they recorded a treble of trophies. In line to accommodate new players who signed during that summer – others needed to be offloaded. 

Then Arjen Robben was one of the star players who was put up on sale. The Dutch speed winger ended up being snatched by Bayern Munich for a region fee estimated to be €25 million. Robben had arrived in Madrid from Chelsea in the summer of 2007 but his time in Spain was blighted with severe injuries which made it hard for him to cement a place in the starting eleven. Robben claimed he was “forced” to leave Real Madrid, saying that he “didn’t want to go, but the club wanted to sell him”.

Mesut Ozil

“Don’t sell Ozil” they screamed. Fans had come in numbers at the Santiago Bernabeu to welcome Gareth Bale who had signed on a world record fee of £90 million from Tottenham Hotspurs in the summer of 2013 but if they also had a plea message to the club’s President Florentino Perez. But Perez decided to ignore that message and let it go of Mesut Oezil on the deadline day for a €45 million fee to Arsenal. The German international was one of the best attacking midfielders in the world at that time and his move to Gunners surprised many football fanatics across the globe. 

During his three years’ stay at Madrid, the talented left-footed player made a total of 159 appearances for the club scoring 27 goals while providing an incredible 71 assists. He was influential in Jose Mourinho’s 2011/12 La Liga winning side that recorded a record 100 points tally. His transfer left his former teammates in disbelief with Sergio Ramos saying ” If I were in charge at Madrid, Ozil would be one of the last to be leaving “Alvaro Arbeloa added: ” He said goodbye on Sunday, but I thought he was joking. Ozil is different, there is no one else like him in the world – it’s a shame and a big loss.”

Angel Di Maria

Angel Di Maria admitted he never wanted to leave Real Madrid for Manchester United, declaring his admiration and respect for his former club. The speedy winger, now at Juventus, joined United from the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2014 for £59.7m but failed to settle in England, lasting just one season before a move to the French capital. “My intention was always to stay at Real Madrid,” he told Marca.

“I didn’t have many relationships with Florentino Perez.” The Argentina winger claimed that he felt undervalued and underappreciated at Real after his request for a new and improved offer at the club was rebuffed despite putting in a man of the match award in the 2013/14 Champions League final. Di Maria spent four years at Real, where he was able to make 124 appearances and score 22 goals in his time at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Xabi Alonso

With injuries to Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martínez, and Thiago Alcântara in central midfield, Bayern Munich was too desperate to sign another player to fill the gap. Then Xabi Alonso ended up being signed by Pep Guardiola for a bargain fee of £ 8 million. The transfer came shocking to many as the hard-tackling midfielder was coming from a season where the club claimed the UEFA Champions League title. 

This was the start of the new era in the club as Angel Di Maria was sold to Manchester United during that summer. During a five-year tenure with the club, Alonso won one league title, and two Copa Del Rey since arriving from Liverpool.