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It's been a sharp decline for Casemiro in recent years.

6 world-class players who dramatically declined after leaving Real Madrid

Real Madrid is widely considered to be the pinnacle destination for most elite footballers – and plenty have suffered dramatic declines after leaving the Bernabeu.

Madrid are ruthless in building teams to conquer Spain and Europe, meaning players with big reputations are unable to recover after being shipped out.

We’ve identified six players who were world-class operators at Madrid, but dramatically declined after leaving.

Ronaldo

After top-scoring at Madrid in every season between 2002 and 2006, Ronaldo had a spectacular falling out with Fabio Capello and was shipped off to Milan in January 2007.

It can be argued the Brazilian icon was already on the decline before leaving Spain, but a sorry nine goals in 20 appearances and a succession of injuries at Milan really underlined his fall from grace.

Ronaldo was back in Brazil with Corinthians by 2009 and a heap of goals in his home country couldn’t mask his diminished powers.

Casemiro

Madrid were laughing all the way to the bank when Manchester United paid £50million for Casemiro in 2022.

While the Brazilian midfielder had been a fine servant for the serial winners, Madrid were never going to turn down a fee of that magnitude for a player in his 30s.

And Casemiro has shockingly declined after a fine debut season at Old Trafford, now finding himself unable to break into the United team and the club desperately looking to sell him.

Fernando Redondo

Redondo was a two-time La Liga and Champions League winner during his six seasons at the Bernabeu, before an £11million transfer to Milan in 2000.

A horrific knee injury kept him waiting to make his competitive Rossoneri debut for over two years, eventually making 33 appearances between 2002 and 2004.

In fairness, Redondo enjoyed somewhat of a late-career resurgence that saw him add a Scudetto, Coppa Italia and another Champions League to his honours list.

But he was still a shadow of the wonderful player we all fell in love with during the 1990s.


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Michael Owen

Sixteen goals in all competitions was an alright return given Owen’s relatively limited gametime, and to this day the striker defends his record on the pitch.

But ultimately his short stay means that he’s a footnote of Florentino Perez’s first Galacticos project as opposed to a star player.

After leaving Madrid in 2005, Owen joined Newcastle and saw his career disappear under an avalanche of injuries.

There were flashes of the old prowess, but Owen’s decline became turbo-charged after leaving Spain.

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Davor Suker

Brought in from Sevilla in 1996, Suker formed part of a deadly attacking trio alongside Raul and Predrag Mijatovic at the Bernabeu.

The striker scored 49 goals in 109 appearances during his three years at the club, winning a La Liga title and the Champions League in the process.

Winner of the Golden Boot at France ’98, Suker was one of the most iconic strikers of his generation.

But the less said about his subsequent spells at Arsenal, West Ham and 1860 Munich, the better.

Fernando Morientes

Morientes was still just 28 when Liverpool signed the striker in a £6.3million deal from Real Madrid in January 2005.

He had shone for Monaco the previous season, firing the French outfit to the Champions League final at the expense of his parent club.

Morientes left after an underwhelming 18 months in which he scored 12 times in 60 appearances in all competitions.

Nineteen goals for Valencia in 2006-07 hinted at a return to greatness, but the striker never matched that output again and had retired by 2010.