19 players you forgot played for Real Madrid, including Adebayor and Essien | OneFootball

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Every now and then, you get a player who spends their entire career at just the one club – Francesco Totti springs to mind – but for the most part, footballers bounce from team to team with great regularity. As a result, it can be hard to keep track of who exactly played for who over the years, and every weekend it seems as though somebody is coming back to haunt their old club with a vital goal or an assist.

For example, Take Kubo spent three years at Real Madrid before leaving to join Real Sociedad this summer, having never actually played a competitive game for Los Blancos. However, he made a return to the Santiago Bernabéu this weekend and helped set up a goal before then also having a fine strike denied due to a teammate being offside. In the end, Madrid won the game 2-1 but the 22-year-old winger was the star of the show at times – even humiliating Toni Kroos at one stage with a cheeky nutmeg.

Kubo only left this summer, so it's not as though everybody has forgotten he used to play for Real Madrid. But it did get us thinking about which other stars wore the famous white but failed to leave much of a legacy. With that in mind, we've compiled a list for you to enjoy.

19 Hamit Altıntop

The Turkish midfielder, now 40, once patrolled Bundesliga midfield with authority and flair. After building a name for himself at Schalke 04, Altıntop moved to Bayern Munich in 2007. After winning a domestic league and cup double in 2007/8 and 2009/10, he was snapped up by Real Madrid.

However, the midfielder failed to impress alongside more mercurial talents such as Xabi Alonso, Mesut Özil, Kaká, and Cristiano Ronaldo. He was sold to Galatasaray just one season later having played only 12 times in all competitions.

18 Michael Essien

Essien is best known within the world of football for his time with Chelsea. Arriving at Stamford Bridge in 2005 for what was a then club-record fee of around £24.4m, the Ghanaian lived up to expectations as he won numerous trophies with the Blues over the next decade, including the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

Before leaving officially in 2014, however, Essien actually spent his final season out on loan with Real Madrid, reuniting with former manager José Mourinho. He was used regularly during that single campaign in Spain, making 35 appearances, but left to join AC Milan permanently the following summer having failed to win any silverware with Madrid.

17 Marcos Alonso

Alonso has the rare honour of having played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland. He actually impressed at Fiorentina in Italy too, earning him a move to Chelsea where he spent probably his best years.

As a youngster, though, he came through Madrid's youth academy, going on to represent Real Madrid Castilla, before making one appearance for the senior team but moved to England shortly afterwards as he signed for Bolton who were in the Premier League at the time.

16 Geremi

Another ex-Chelsea player who also played in Spain with Los Blancos. There's a theme beginning to emerge here... But unlike Essien and Alonso, Geremi enjoyed pretty notable spells at each club, instead of just the one.

Indeed, he won the Champions League twice with Real Madrid, as well as La Liga. While with the Blues, he won the Premier League back-to-back in 2005 and then 2006; although he left after four years with regular starts in West London increasingly hard to come by.

15 Samuel Eto’o

Arguably the best player and the biggest player on this list, Eto’o achieved an awful lot in football, but he didn't do any of that with Real Madrid. The Cameroonian played only seven games for Los Merengues, failing to score or register an assist before moving to Mallorca.

He soon ended up at Barcelona and scored 130 goals and claimed 40 assists in 199 games while winning the Champions League and La Liga on numerous occasions. He later joined Inter Milan where he won a famous treble, and also spent time in England with Chelsea and Everton towards the end of his career.

14 Borja Valero

In his pomp, Valero strolled around the middle of the park for Fiorentina, dictating play with his wonderful technical ability and eye for the pass. He also enjoyed time with Mallorca, West Brom, Villarreal and Inter Milan but in the early stages of his career, it looked as though he might be playing his football at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Having come through the academy to play for Real Madrid C and then Real Madrid B, the midfielder sadly never got a proper shot with the senior team, playing just twice (once in the Copa del Rey and once in the Champions League) before being released in 2007. He retired in 2021, but then opted to continue with the game, playing for Florence-based amateur club Centro Storico Lebowski.

13 Nuri Şahin

Şahin once looked like of of the most exciting young midfielders in the world, playing for the Borussia Dortmund when he was just 16. After winning the Bundesliga and being named Player of the Season in 2010/11, he moved to Spain that summer to sign for Real Madrid.

Unfortunately, though, things did not go well for him as he played just 10 times for the club (partly due to fitness issues), before being loaned out to Liverpool (where he also struggled) and then ending up back in Germany with Dortmund. Speaking about his return, he told the press: "I realised that as a footballer and a human being, I belong here 100 per cent."

12 Emmanuel Adebayor

Adebayor is perhaps best remembered for that infamous knee slide scored for his club of the time Manchester City, against his ex-team Arsenal – for which he was later fined £25,000. While he also angered Gooners again by later joining North London rivals Tottenham.

But he did also play in Spain with Real Madrid for half a season. Oddly enough, the striker wore the number six shirt during league games with the club but 28 in the Champions League. He scored eight goals in 22 games, including a hat-trick on the final La Liga game of the season but didn't stick around any longer than his six-month loan spell.

11 Juanfran

Playing 355 games for Atletico Madrid between 2011 to 2019 – winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Europa League among other honours – it feels strange to consider the fact that Juanfran actually once played for their biggest rivals. But that's football for you.

Indeed, the veteran right-back started out at Real Madrid as a product of their youth academy, making his senior debut way back in January 2004. He later joined Osasuna before eventually ending up as an integral part of Diego Simeone's team for nearly a decade.

10 Ezequiel Garay

After impressing in his native Argentina at Newell's Old Boys and then moving to Spain with Racing Santander, Garay joined Real Madrid in 2008 (although initially went back on loan to Racing for the season). Unfortunately, he was with Los Blancos around the same time as when Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe and Sergio Ramos were part of the team, so regular minutes were never going to be easy.

Garay did still managed to play 31 competitive games for Madrid. But José Mourinho ultimately preferred other options to play in defence, and so the centre-back was sold to Benfica in 2011. He later showed his quality at other European clubs, regularly featuring for Zenit Saint Petersburg and Valencia over the years until his retirement in 2021 due to injury.

9 Fabinho

For those who associate Fabinho with a club before Liverpool, it will be when he was a member of that brilliantly talented Monaco team that won Ligue 1 and made the Champions League semi-finals, with the likes of Radamel Falcao, João Moutinho, Bernardo Silva and Kylian Mbappé amongst their ranks.

It's quite often forgotten, however, that he did actually move from Brazil as a youngster, joining Real Madrid Castilla initially while he would go on to play just once for the senior team. Considering he won so much with the Reds, perhaps Los Blancos will regret letting the 29-year-old slip through their fingers.

8 Filipe Luís

Now 38 years of age, and back in his native Brazil with Flamengo, Luís played at two of Europe's biggest clubs as a youngster but never actually made a competitive game for either. First, he was at Ajax on loan but never made it further than the first-team bench, while he then also ended up on loan to Real Madrid but spent the entire season with the B team.

That move didn't become permanent but he did stay in Spain and eventually joined Atletico Madrid where he played over 300 games across two spells – which sandwiched a year at Chelsea – winning La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the Europa League twice.

7 Juan Mata

For a period, Mata was one of the most exciting players in the Premier League with Chelsea, before making a somewhat surprising move to rivals Manchester United. At Old Trafford, he oozed class for eight seasons before joining Galatasaray in 2022. He currently plays in Japan for Vissel Kobe after leaving Turkey this summer.

The Spaniard started his youth career with Real Oviedo but actually joined Real Madrid as a 15-year-old in 2003. While he looked to be an exciting talent at the time, he left having never played for the senior set-up, instead earning international acclaim at Valencia where he scored 56 goals and claimed 52 assists in 174 games.

6 Álvaro Negredo

With over 200 goals across the course of his career, Negredo is one of those strikers who always seemed to be popping up and scoring for random clubs across the game. After all, he played in England with Man City and Middlesbrough, In Turkey with Besiktas, and in the UAE with Al-Nasr SC, but is most closely associated with Spanish football.

After emerging on the scene at Rayo Vallecano, he joined Real Madrid Castilla before then moving to Almeria. Two years later, he was back at Real Madrid (after they exercised their buyback option) but he was swiftly sold to Sevilla with the likes of Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuaín, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo to compete with upfront. He only ever played in non-competitive games for Los Blancos and did not return after his second spell in the capital.

5 Esteban Cambiasso

The wonderfully intelligent Argentine midfielder was a key figure in Inter Milan's treble-winning season of 2009/10, playing 47 matches across all competitions. He also spent a season in England, winning Leicester City's Player of the Year award, as voted by the club's supporters, but left that summer before the Foxes would go on to lift the Premier League in the following campaign.

Before ending up in Serie A and the Premier League, however, he played 67 times for Real Madrid (having initially joined the B team before heading back to Argentina for a few years, gaining experience with Independiente and at River Plate). He retired in 2017 after two seasons with Olympiacos.

4 Diego Llorente

Those who have watched Leeds in recent seasons will know that defence wasn't exactly their strong point, as they spent three seasons in the Premier League before being relegated. Unfortunately, Llorente arrived for £18m the summer they got promoted but didn't convince too many during his time at Elland Road.

He joined Roma mid-way through last season on loan and has remained with them in the Italian capital this term too with the Whites now playing in the Championship. Before all that, though, the Spaniard made his way through Madrid's youth system to play three competitive games for Los Blancos.

3 Roberto Soldado

Soldado was one of the names Spurs signed when splashing out all that money they got from selling Gareth Bale to Madrid back in 2013, and like many of those signings, he never delivered the goods in North London. After all, in 74 outings for Tottenham, he scored just 13 goals.

82 goals in 141 at Valencia had convinced the English side to spend a club-record £26m on the striker, but they should have perhaps looked at his paltry four goals in 27 games at Real Madrid as an indication of his inability to do it on a bigger stage.

2 Walter Samuel

The tough-tackling defender also played a pivotal role in Inter's treble, like Argentinian compatriot Cambiasso, featuring in all 13 Champions League games and keeping six clean sheets during their triumphant run to glory. Before that success with the Italian club, however, he spent a season in the Spanish capital.

After impressing initially in Serie A with Roma, Samuel arrived at Madrid for €25m but left after just one year despite playing 40 times across all competitions. He failed to win any silverware during that campaign – maybe that explains why he was allowed to leave so swiftly.

1 Marcos Llorente

While he has spent more time in his career at rivals Atletico Madrid, 154 games, Llorente was actually a boyhood fan of Real Madrid and this was probably due to the fact that his father, great uncle, and grandfather all played for the club. He at least followed in their footsteps to a degree.

Indeed, having joined the youth set-up as a 13-year-old, Llorente went on to play 39 times for the senior team in all competitions. The 28-year-old spent one season on loan at Alaves before leaving for Atletico where he won La Liga in 2020/21.