There has been heavy criticism of new Real Madrid signing Kylian Mbappe since his dream move to the Santiago Bernabeu, and although some have tried to label the move as a mistake already, the reality is that Mbappe hasn’t been as poor as the media perception would have you think.
Yes, he’s had some awful performances, including against Barcelona and Liverpool in the Champions League, and it would be fair to assert that if he were not such a big superstar, he wouldn’t even be starting for Real Madrid over other players.
But Mbappe has been far from the only player underperforming at Real Madrid this season, and even at his worst, he is still one of the better forwards in LaLiga with 8 goals in 13 games and an impressive 2.7 dribbles completed per game.
So while Mbappe has been a disappointment relative to expectations and his true ability, to give you an idea of actual mistaken Real Madrid transfers, let’s take a look at five players who truly made the wrong choice to move to the Bernabeu.
Eden Hazard
The most obvious is Eden Hazard, who was actually excellent for Real Madrid for about a month between October and November of his first season after struggling to stay fit and stay underweight in his first summer at the club.
Hazard, however, suffered an ankle injury against PSG at the hands of countryman Thomas Meunier, and that would spell doom for the rest of his Real Madrid career.
The injury came just when Hazard was figuring things out, as the 100 million euro transfer led the team to a snowy win against Real Sociedad, taking control of the pitch.
He did the same for about an hour against PSG, who had torn Real Madrid to shreds in their first Champions League encounter when Hazard was still unavailable.
That injury destroyed Hazard, who would never be healthy in Madrid again. He suffered aggravation after aggravation of his ankle injuries, as well as multiple soft-tissue injuries that were likely due to the initial issue causing poor mechanics or stress elsewhere.
Hazard was a shell of himself. The best player in the Premier League prior to his signing with Real Madrid, the same confidence off the dribble had past Hazard, who was slow and clearly out of shape.
At Chelsea, Hazard frustrated legends, including John Terry, for barely practicing or playing Mario Kart shortly before games. Whereas the best Real Madrid players – like Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric – are known for their professionalism and religious adherence to strict nutrition and training principles, Hazard was a free spirit who just happened to be great at playing a game he loved; he was like a kid.
That didn’t work at Real Madrid, nor is that mentality conducive to a long career. Hazard was always destined to burn brightly for a short period of time, and the moment he faced a serious crisis in the form of an injury, it spelled the end.
But hey, at least he got a lot of money and a Champions League trophy out of it. Since Hazard lasted a couple of years and won a Champions League trophy, he actually had a significantly better Real Madrid career than several star players who made this list; it’s just that, from Madrid’s perspective, spending around 200 million euros on the transfer fee and wages was far from ideal.
Nicolas Anelka
One of the other players who disappointed but still won a Champions League title was Nicolas Anelka, who joined Real Madrid from Arsenal in 1999 for around 22 million pounds, which was a whole lot of money at the time.
Anelka was one of the most touted strikers in European football, having scored 17 goals with 5 assists as a 19-year-old. In his lone season at Real Madrid, Anelka was so poor that MARCA openly mocked him with a headline: “Anelka finally scores a goal…on a video game,” after the staff had invited him to play FIFA with them. Cruel.
But Anelka didn’t do much to endear himself to Real Madrid either. He cut a forlorn figure who didn’t seem to want to be a part of the team, and that was probably because he didn’t fit the club. You can’t blame him, and it’s something other players have had issues with in the past – not fitting the culture.
Anelka would only score two LaLiga goals with three assists for Real Madrid that season. He would be suspended at one point in the campaign for refusing to train, stating he was treated “like a dog” by the club, and, again, that pointed to a general feeling of being unwanted and not fitting the culture there.
Yet the funny thing is when he came back, he scored twice in the Champions League semifinals against Bayern Munich and would go on to win the Champions League Final as a starter against LaLiga rivals Valencia.
A scorer in a 3-0 Clasico win, too, Anelka did show up in big moments for Real Madrid and clearly had potential. He just didn’t fit in for whatever reason. Anelka would also struggle at PSG and Liverpool after leaving the Bernabeu but would later turn his career around with Manchester City and, later, Chelsea.
Antonio Cassano
Whereas Anelka and Hazard hoisted prestigious silverware at Real Madrid, Antonio Cassano was a nuisance without any sort of positives, and, to this day, he only has negative things to say about the club and its legends, namely No. 1 target Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cassano was one of the most talented playmakers of the 2000s in Serie A, showing exceptional ability as a teenager at Bari, to the point where he earned the nickname “El Pibe de Bari” because he was such an elegant and exciting player.
He then moved to Roma and excelled alongside Francesco Totti, but, even then, he had a penchant for getting in trouble with others at the club, which led to his eventual signing with Real Madrid for just five million euros.
If Hazard was controversial because he wasn’t serious about football from a professional standpoint with additional dietary indiscretions and Anelka had trouble fitting in with teammates and coaches, then Cassano was the worst of both worlds multiplied by a factor of 10.
He was a disaster. Cassano gained 14 kilograms off eating Nutella during his time in Madrid, which, in hindsight, had to be the most asinine sponsorship idea the club could have come up with.
When Cassano wasn’t eating pastries or being fined for his weight, he was openly clashing with teammates and coaches. Real Madrid had no choice but to jettison him because he was such a headache in the locker room, and, on the pitch, he was an unmitigated disaster with just two goals and eight total starts in his two seasons at the club.
Even for just five million euros, you could legitimately argue that for all the trouble he caused and how poorly he played in Madrid compared to his excellence with Bari, Roma, Sampdoria, and Parma, he is the worst signing in Real Madrid history.
Asier Illarramendi
Asier Illarramendi never should have joined Real Madrid simply because there wasn’t a place for him to shine. He was a wonderful footballer who was named the best midfielder in all of LaLiga in the 2012/13 season when he helped Real Sociedad achieve the rare feat of Champions League qualification.
That Illarramendi won this award over the superstars of Real Madrid and Barcelona is an incredible feat, and it is no wonder why Madrid then spent a record 32.2 million euros on a Spanish footballer to bring the Basque star to the capital.
Illarramendi never started more than 15 league games in a season for the Merengues and was mostly a rotational backup. He still defended well with 2.2 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game in his best season in Madrid, but those were nowhere near his jaw-dropping numbers before and after with La Real, including 3.4 tackles and 5.2 interceptions per match in his breakout 2011/12 campaign.
Walter Samuel
Walter Samuel is one of the best defensive players of all time, and, like Wesley Sneijder, he was much better for Inter Milan, where he was a vital part of the treble-winning side under Jose Mourinho, after leaving Real Madrid
The Argentinian international joined Real Madrid in 2004 from Roma for 25 million euros after establishing himself as one of the best up-and-coming defenders in Serie A.
Samuel would spend just one season with Real Madrid despite appearing in 30 games, as he never settled in and was immediately discarded. Real sold him for less (16 million) than they bought him for and watched as Samuel blossomed into a superstar with Inter instead of becoming the next Fernando Hierro for them.
His move to Real Madrid was effectively a waste of one year of his career and sticks out in all the wrong ways in comparison to his dizzying heights at Inter Milan and even his success with Roma.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.