Real Madrid: Ranking the 5 most disappointing transfers in club history

3. ASIER ILLARAMENDI

The iconic Xabi Alonso’s playing years at Real Madrid were coming to an end and Real Madrid had to find a replacement. As such, what would be better than a young player making headway in the same league? Real Sociedad’s youth product Asier Illaramendi was making quite the name for himself with his impressive performances for the club. La Real qualified for the Champions League for the first time in ten years in the Champions League and Real Madrid thought they had found the perfect replacement.

As Real Madrid always does, they splashed their cash and won the race for his signature for 32 million euros in 2013. This made him the most expensive Spanish signing in Real Madrid’s history at that time. However, the Spaniard couldn’t live up to all the expectations the fans had for him at the Bernabeu.

He could never recover from homesickness at Real Madrid and his qualities as a holding midfielder seemed inadequate for Real Madrid’s standards. He had one of the hardest times covering up for Real’s backline and could never really justify himself as the replacement for the iconic Xabi Alonso who had departed to Bayern Munich.

The club was forced to sell the Spaniard after two miserable seasons at the Spanish capital for a massive loss, making him one of the biggest big-money flops at Real Madrid. He was sold back to La Real at 15 million euros and now, he wears the Captain’s armband for them. He is already a club icon at Sociedad and would probably retire as a legend!