Spanish giants Real Madrid are definitely one of the powerhouses in world football. Being the most successful club in Europe makes it a dream for any ambitious player to want to play for the club. It has now been a norm for many years that the club goes for the crème de la crème.

Whereas most of the top players joining the team go on to have great careers, there are a few who cost an arm and a leg and once settled there, endure tough times and go on to flop.

Among the top players to have flourished at the team include Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Karim Benzema, Luis Figo and David Beckham to mention but a few.

It is the profile that such players come with that mostly on football betting odds on Wincomparator will have Real Madrid as favorites. For example, towards the end of October, they’ll be facing Barcelona in the biggest game in La Liga and despite playing away from home, they are tipped as the favorites to win. 1XBet has the best odds for a Real Madrid win at 2.4 against Barcelona’s 2.95, while a draw is tipped at 3.82 on the same bookmaker.

Away from the stars who have made a name at the Santiago Bernabeu, there are those who came on high profiles but left as top flops. Here are some of them:

Eden Hazard: Belgian international Eden Hazard was described as a top upcoming star more than a decade ago while turning out for Lille in France and he would go on to make a lucrative move to Chelsea. While with the Blues, he was value for money and the €40m paid at the time was well justified as he aided Chelsea with two league titles as well as the Europa League among other titles. His impressive displays would shortly see Real Madrid pay €100m for his services. He arrived at Real Madrid with great expectations on his shoulders but continuous injuries and poor form have curtailed his development. Even though his name will be among title winners, the reality is that Hazard’s contribution has been really minimal at the team.

Ricardo Kaka: Brazilian Kaka arrived at Real Madrid as another top-rated player, costing the Spanish side £56m. He had just won the 2017 Ballon d’Or and was signed alongside big players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema. He joined on the back of great performances for AC Milan, but as fate would have it, he struggled at the Bernabeu, largely because of injuries, while the arrival of Mesut Ozil and Gareth Bale didn’t help. Four years after the big news of his arrival, he handed in a transfer request and shortly after, was signing back for Milan on a two-year deal.

Nicholas Anelka: The Frenchman courted controversy in almost all workstations that took him in, as well as at the French national team. Anelka arrived at Real Madrid in 1999 for £22m from Arsenal and he was then one of the top forwards in the world. His volatile nature saw him offloaded after just one season. That season was highlighted by the Frenchman going without a goal for five months and his tiff with manager Vicente del Bosque which saw him suspended for 45 days. In the end, he left having scored just seven goals,