Real Madrid have always been reknowned for spending big amounts of money of quality and high profile players, but not all have been great successes. Here are 5 of the worst signings in Real Madrid history.

5. Javier Saviola (2007)

Saviola joined Barcelona in a very high profile move in 2000. He impressed initially and many Argentinians considered him to be the ‘new Diego Maradona’. After 3 years at Barcelona his form tailed off and he spent unsuccessful loan spells at Monaco and Sevilla, he saw his contract out the following year and was released.

Real Madrid decided to sign Saviola from their bitter rivals on a free transfer, although his contract was very lucrative. After two years he had scored 5 goals in 28 appearances and with the arrival of Klass Jan Huntelaar, Saviola left the club in 2009.

4. Royston Drenthe (2007)

There were such high hopes for Drenthe during his time at Feyenoord. A lot was spoken of the talented, pacey left winger and Madrid took him on for £13,000,000. He was given limited opportunities but when he did play he left a lot to be desired. His confidence took a nose dive under Juande Ramos in 2009/10 and he was loaned out to Hercules in Spain.

Madrid were not able to find a club to sell him to in the last summer and instead loaned him again on deadline day to Everton, he struggled there with personal problems and his contract expired at Madrid. He had a spell in Russia division 2 and now plays his club football at Reading.

3. Julien Faubert (2009)

This was one of the most bizarre signings in the clubs history. Although technically he only joined them on loan, it still makes the list. He was never a top class player and that showed with every performance that Faubert made. He missed training when he mistakenly thought he had the day off and unsurprisingly Madrid decided not to pursue his transfer on a permanent basis.

His attitude was a problem and was actually caught asleep on the bench during a Real Madrid match. He returned to West Ham where he angered fans and players and was released in 2012. He is back in France now with Bordeaux.

2. Kaka

Kaká joined Real Madrid for a transfer fee of £60,000,000 which smashed the record at the time. While at Milan, Kaká won the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007 and all Real Madrid fans were itching to see these kinds of performances for Madrid. Ronaldo joined Madrid that year and that was Kaka’s downfall.

There were moments of magic but they were too few and too far between, he became more of a burden then a boost to Real Madrid in the 4 years that he spent in Spain.29 goals in 120 appearances was not a strong enough return from the Brazilian especially with a transfer fee that high being paid for him. He re-joined Milan at the start of the 2012/13 season.

1. Jonathan Woodgate (2004)

Without doubt the worst signing in the history of Real Madrid. Premier League fans will remember Woodgate, who was a quality centre back for Newcastle and Leeds and at the back end of his career for Tottenham. His time at Real Madrid was horrendous . Joining for £13,400,000 in 2004

Woodgate was always troubled by injury and that plagued him on arrival at Real Madrid. When he did finally make his debut, he scored an own goal and was eventually sent off. Madrid did win the game but this set the tone for Woodgate’s ill-fated career at Madrid. He started to show some promise but injury struck again forcing Madrid to send Woodgate back to England in the form of Middlesbrough.