10 Real Madrid Rejects Who Made It Big Elsewhere
Real’s pantheon of legends may not celebrate this group, but they all found success.
South American attacking midfielder James Rodriguez has moved from Real Madrid to Bayern Munich in one of 2017’s biggest transfer stories.
A surprising two-year loan deal, with an option to buy, materialised following a personally frustrating campaign in which the Colombian star made just 13 league starts under Zinedine Zidane.
Rodriguez had been a regular in his first season with Los Blancos, creating 13 goals and scoring just as many from 29 La Liga outings on the back of a stunning £71 million switch from principality dwellers Monaco.
Opportunities dwindled thereafter, with just 17 domestic starts coming his way throughout a second term in the Spanish capital, yet he was still involved in 15 of his side’s league strikes.
Despite numerous ups-and-downs, James claimed a plethora of honours during his three-year stint including two Champions League winners’ medals and a Primera Division title.
To many observers his quality is undoubted and, under the man – Carlo Ancelotti – who took him to Real, he will aim to thrive in Bavaria.
He can certainly take heart from past Madridistas who were deemed surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu, but later flourished.