Kaka, Hazard and Anelka among the big-name Real Madrid flops Mbappe won't want to emulate
kaka, Eden Hazard and Nicolas Anelka - Real Madrid flops
Kylian Mbappe is heading to Real Madrid, but if you think he is certain to succeed there then history has a lesson for you.
If reports are to be believed, then Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid is all sorted for the summer.
However, Madrid can be a tough nut to crack, even for the very best, and there is a lengthy list of flops that Mbappe will not want to emulate.
Eden Hazard
From: Chelsea
When: 2009
Fee: €100million
In three years, he is yet to make 20 appearances in a single La Liga season and is not even into double figures for goals.
No wonder the La Liga giants are desperate to get rid of him.
Nicolas Anelka
From: Arsenal
When: 1999
Fee: €34.5million
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Nicolas Anelka was always a bit of an enigma. The Frenchman exploded onto the scene at Arsenal, scoring 17 goals in 35 Premier League games for the Gunners in 1998/99.
That form earned him a mega-money move to Madrid, although Arsenal's willingness to let him go should have been a red flag.
It took him five months to score a goal for his new club and at one point he refused to train, accusing the club of treating him "like a dog".
Kaka
From: AC Milan
When: 2009
Fee: €68.5million
He was also at the very peak of his powers at 27 years old, so it was always going to take a world record fee to land him.
Madrid paid it and pinned their hopes on him, but injuries robbed Kaka of the opportunity to justify the deal.
He won a La Liga title but said he "lost the joy of playing football" while playing for Real Madrid.
Nevertheless, Kaka still made 120 appearances for Los Blancos over a four-year period, scoring 29 goals.
Jonathan Woodgate
From: Newcastle
When: 2004:
Fee: €18.3million
When anyone ever mentions bad debuts, Jonathan Woodgate is rarely far from the discussion.
Woodgate did not even make a single appearance for Real Madrid in his first season at the club due to injury. When he eventually did play for the first time, he scored an own goal and was sent off.
Walter Samuel
From: Roma
When: 2004
Fee: €25million
In 2004, you'd have struggled to find a better and more respected centre-back in world soccer than Argentinian Walter Samuel.
However, he looked like anything but a wall at Madrid and was quickly shipped back to Italy and Inter Milan after one disastrous season.
No doubt much to Madrid's disgust, back in Italy he immediately became brilliant again.
Michael Essien
From: Chelsea
When: 2012
Fee: Loan
Given how well he had done for him at Chelsea, there was no real surprise when Jose Mourinho reunited with Michael Essien.
The problem was that the Ghanian was only just back form a serious knee injury and he wasn't the same player.
The story goes that he told Essien his team-mates were selfish. Unsurprisingly, both Essien and Mourinho left at the end of the season with Essien having played 35 times for the club.
Royston Drenthe
From: Feyenoord
When: 2007
Fee: €14million
Ah that summer of Royston Drenthe. What a time to be alive that was. The explosive left-sided player looked a genuine star when he lit up the European Under-21 Championships in 2007.
He was part of the winning side and took home the Golden Player award.
Madrid came calling later in the summer to sign him from Feyenoord, but boy did things go very wrong very quickly.
The writing was on the wall when the Bernabeu crowd booed him in a match against Deportivo La Coruna. He claimed it left him with crippling anxiety and he promptly embarked on a downward career spiral that saw him play for the likes of Reading and Sheffield Wednesday.
In what would have been a fitting end to his football story, he retired at the age of 29 to focus on a rap career. He has since returned and currently plays for Racing Murcia, a Madrid-based club in the fourth tier of Spanish football.
Danilo
From: Porto
When: 2015
Fee: €31.5million
Danilo wasn't necessarily bad at Real Madrid, he was just a disappointment.
The problem Danilo had was that defensively he always had an error in him, and he probably wasn't mentally strong enough to deal with it.
The Brazilian has since forged a good career at Manchester City and Juventus, but he has to go down as a Real Madrid flop.
