Mbappe at Real Madrid among 10 star signings that brought bad luck | OneFootball

Kylian Mbappe will almost certainly complete his first two seasons with Real Madrid without a major trophy to his name, so which other big signings have coincided with bad patches for massive clubs?

Mbappe may have won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup since his move to Real Madrid, but the Champions League continues to elude him and a La Liga title looks nigh-on impossible to achieve this season.

His move to Real Madrid in 2024 was the most high-profile of its summer – but it isn’t the only example of a trophy-collecting club making a big signing and then, coincidentally or otherwise, experiencing a lull.

We’ll afford a bit of patience to Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz at Liverpool for now, but if no trophies follow at Anfield next season either, they too would be well in this conversation…

Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid

Mbappe always seemed destined to end up at Real Madrid and eventually got his way in 2024 after running down his Paris Saint-Germain contract.

How embarrassing it must have been, then, when PSG won their long-awaited first Champions League title in the season immediately after Mbappe’s exit as he went empty handed.

Two seasons without a major trophy is unthinkable for Real Madrid, let alone after signing one of the best players in the world.

Ruud van Nistelrooy at Manchester United

Van Nistelrooy spent five years as a Manchester United player and scored 150 goals, but somehow only won a single Premier League title.

It was certainly a barren spell considering United had won the three league titles in a row directly prior to Van Nistelrooy’s arrival and they also won three in a row in the seasons directly after he left in 2006.

The Dutch striker had been the subject of Sir Alex Ferguson’s admiration for a long time, but missed out on being part of the 2000-01 title-winning squad after injury postponed his club-record move from PSV by a year.

In addition to his sole league winner’s medal, Van Nistelrooy won the FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield once apiece with United. They would yearn for success like that nowadays, but in the peak Ferguson years, it was an underwhelming section.

Ronaldo at Real Madrid

On the back of winning the Champions League in 2002 – their ninth European Cup – Real Madrid splashed out to sign Ronaldo as a new Galactico as they began dreaming of La Decima.

Ronaldo had previously become the most expensive player in history when joining Barcelona in 1996 and again when joining Inter Milan in 1997. He cost Real Madrid €46m, just shy of the record-breaking price they’d spent on Zinedine Zidane a year earlier.

He won La Liga and the Intercontinental Cup in his debut season and the Supercopa de Espana in his second, but never the Champions League. The Brazilian striker is arguably the best player to play in the Champions League and never win it.

Ultimately, Madrid’s wait for La Decima would end in 2014 thanks to a squad starring a different Ronaldo: Cristiano.

Antoine Griezmann at Barcelona

Griezmann is one of only 11 players to score more than 200 goals in La Liga, but has never won the league title.

After breaking through at Real Sociedad, he enjoyed five seasons with Atletico Madrid before making a big move to Barcelona, who were the back-to-back reigning champions.

But Real Madrid wrestled the title away from Barca in Griezmann’s debut season and then, ironically, Atletico won it in his second.

Griezmann did win a Copa del Rey during his time with Barcelona, but that was all to show for his €120m move before he returned to Atletico.

Arthur Melo at Juventus

Juventus enjoyed a dominant run of nine Serie A titles in a row up until 2020, before being involved in one of the biggest swap deals in recent memory with Barcelona.

Out went Miralem Pjanic and in came Arthur Melo, who may be remembered (or not) as a Liverpool flop these days but supposedly cost €72m at the time.

The transfer was later investigated for allegations of inflated fees, but bringing in a player with two years of Barcelona experience under his belt was a big deal regardless.

Yet instead of making it 10 Scudetti in a row, Juventus dropped to fourth in the final table for 2020-21. They still haven’t won the league again since (and Arthur is somehow still under contract).

Cesc Fabregas at Barcelona

Fabregas’ fine form with Arsenal earned him a return to Barcelona in 2011 for an initial €29m. The midfielder remained at Camp Nou for three seasons, including Pep Guardiola’s last at the helm.

There were enough honours along the way, including the 2012-13 La Liga trophy. But Fabregas’ time in the Barcelona first team was sandwiched between Champions League-winning campaigns and they never even reached a final during his stint.

David de Gea at Manchester United

De Gea may have won the Premier League title in his second season with Manchester United, but there was a stark difference between the 12 years before and after he signed.

Seven league titles were claimed by United over the dozen years before De Gea’s arrival, compared to the mere one during his spell with the club, which lasted the same amount of time.

The Spaniard had become the most expensive goalkeeper in British football history when he signed from Atletico Madrid for almost £19m in 2011.

Romelu Lukaku at Chelsea

Chelsea broke their transfer record to re-sign Lukaku in a lavish 2021 summer spending spree, inspired by his 64 goals over the past two seasons with Inter.

Thomas Tuchel had led Chelsea to the Champions League the season before, so the addition of a world-class centre-forward was seen as a move that could help them sustain some success.

But Lukaku flopped badly, only scoring eight Premier League goals as their position improved from fourth to third. They failed to defend their Champions League crown and were beaten in the FA Cup and EFL Cup finals in his only season back at Stamford Bridge, sweetened only by success in the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

A steep decline followed the season after, which Lukaku spent back on loan with Inter, as Chelsea dropped to 12th in the table.

William Gallas at Arsenal

Gallas won back-to-back Premier League titles with Chelsea before controversially pushing for a move to an Arsenal side that had just been runners up in the Champions League in 2006.

After crossing the divide and memorably taking the number 10 shirt, the defender failed to win a trophy in four years with the Gunners.

Around midway through that spell, Gallas had a meltdown and sat sulking on the pitch after a draw with Birmingham City.

David Beckham at Real Madrid

Reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid won the race to sign Beckham in 2003 after his decorated spell with Manchester United, adding another superstar to their ranks.

But Madrid finished as low down as fourth in Beckham’s debut season. It took them until his fourth and final campaign to reclaim the title.

Beckham’s only other honour from his 159-game, 20-goal spell with Madrid was the 2003 Supercopa de Espana.