10 Players Who Probably Regret Joining Real Madrid
5. Jonathan Woodgate
The tragic tale of Jonathan Woodgate is one of modern day footballs woes. A promising centre-half for the Toon Army in 2004, he was heralded as a future stalwart for the England national side, and judging by his performances, it was hardly a foolish prediction. With Real Madrid luring the Middlesbrough-born defender for £14 million, many believed that Woodgate would take the next step and emerge as an equivalent to John Terry.
Once again, however, the Real Madrid directors thought with their wallets rather than with their heads. Its cases like this that would make one wonder what the purpose of a medical is, seeing as Woodgate arrived injured, and stayed that way for the next 13 months. Indeed, it wasnt until September 2005, in which time Woodgate had taken the time to grow shoulder-length locks and learn fluent Spanish, that he made his debut. Eager to showcase his abilities to a Madrid public who had been excruciatingly patient, as well as wanting to send a message to watching England boss Sven Goran-Eriksson, Woodgate produced a performance to forget, scoring an own goal, before receiving his marching orders.
More injuries were to come as Woodgate failed to put a run of games together for his club, and was left with no choice but to depart for hometown club Middlesbrough in 2006. While the usually cutthroat supporters had been uncharacteristically sympathetic with his injury woes, which included clapping him off the pitch on his nightmare debut, they were back to their Machiavellian ways in 2007, voting him the worst signing of the 21st century in a leading Spanish newspaper.