Jude Bellingham will become the latest British player to represent Real Madrid after his move from Borussia Dortmund to the Spanish capital. We look at those that have gone before him.
Laurie Cunningham (1979-84)
The winger was a pioneer throughout his career. From being the first Black man to play a competitive game for England to being the first Englishman to represent Real Madrid in the professional era, Cunningham created history. He joined for £950,000 from West Brom in 1979.
There were two fine seasons at Real Madrid, winning a league and cup double but a serious knee injury suffered in training meant his flying skills were somewhat reduced. Cunningham’s 44 appearances brought 21 goals and a standing ovation at the Camp Nou after dazzling the Barcelona fans in El Clásico. He would leave permanently in 1984.
Cunningham loved the lifestyle and married a Spanish woman. He returned to play for Rayo Vallecano but died in a car accident in 1989 in Madrid.
Steve McManaman (1999-2003)
McManaman followed in Cunningham’s footsteps, deciding to leave Liverpool behind to sign for Real Madrid on a free transfer in 1999.
McManaman immersed himself in the culture and learned Spanish quickly to help settle in his new surroundings. On the pitch he was a success, too, scoring a goal in the Champions League final to help Madrid lift the trophy at Valencia’s expense, in his first season with the club.
Despite this, Madrid were keen to get rid of McManaman but he refused to go despite being told he was surplus to requirements. His attitude won over the club and he was reinstated in the first team. He won two La Liga and Champions League titles, maintaining close ties to the club to this day.
David Beckham (2003-07)
The galáctico’s galatico. When Sir Alex Ferguson decided the time was right Beckham to exit the Old Trafford stage door, there were two main options for him: Madrid or Barcelona. In the end, he chose los blancos, joining the club of Raúl, Roberto Carlos, Luís Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.
It should have resulted in a new era of Madrid dominance but he walked away after four years with a solitary La Liga title and no European honours. Like McManaman, Beckham was popular with his teammates, who saw beyond the brand and shirt sales, for his work ethic mixed with incredible ability.
The decision to let him leave at the end of the 2006-07 season came early, allowing Beckham to make arrangements to head to MLS. He was out of the team and expecting to end his time in Madrid as a spectator, only for Fabio Capello to bring him back to help a resurgent team win the league title.
Michael Owen (2004-05)
There was a solitary season for Owen in Madrid. He joined as Beckham and his galácticos teammates, but he never looked like forcing Ronaldo or Raul out of the side.
Although Owen was never a regular after his £8m move from Liverpool, he managed 16 goals in 45 appearances at a goals-to-minute ratio that surpassed anyone else in the country. He notched the fourth in a victory over Barcelona but did not settle and was sold to Newcastle in the summer for double what Madrid paid.
Owen’s time in Madrid is best remembered for driving to the airport each day to pick up the English papers. “It took us two months to discover there was a newsstand 50 yards from the hotel,” Owen said. “We felt right idiots.”
Jonathan Woodgate (2004-07)
Fellow news-enthusiast Woodgate was another 2004 summer signing. The classy centre-back set Madrid back £13.4m from Newcastle. Unfortunately, his time in Spain was a disaster from start to finish. Injuries meant he did not make a single appearance in his first season.
On his belated debut, against Athletic Bilbao, a year later, he scored an own goal and was sent off. That was one of nine league appearances for the club. He was voted the worst signing La Liga signing of the 21st century in a Marca poll.
Two years after joining, he left for Middlesbrough on loan, making the deal permanent in 2007. On the upside, he did learn Spanish and would go on to be an international scout for Liverpool in Spain and Portugal.
Gareth Bale (2013-22)
Four Champions Leagues, one La Liga, one Copa del Rey, two Spanish Super Cups and three European Super Cups would indicate Bale is a Real Madrid great but the final years of his time in Spain left him highly unpopular with fans.
Bale scored 81 goals in 176 league appearances in a nine-year spell in Spain after signing for a world-record fee of £85m from Spurs. He scored in three Champions League finals, including a successful penalty in the 2016 shootout. Bale will be best remembered for coming off the bench to score two goals against Liverpool in 2018. His first was an incredible overhead kick.
His popularity waned the following season and he almost moved to China in 2019, before returning to Spurs on loan. One issue locals took with Bale was his penchant for golf. He held a banner after qualifying for Euro 2020, saying ‘Wales, golf, Madrid. In that order’, which did not please Madridistas. A final year in Spain for the 2021-22 season brought very little and he moved to MLS’s Los Angeles for his swansong.
Caroline Weir (2022-present)
Weir became the first woman and second Scot – after John Fox Watson’s solo appearance in 1948-49 season – to play for Real Madrid when she upped sticks from Manchester City in 2022.
A move to Madrid was her destiny. Her arrival was announced on social media with footage of her doing kick-ups in the garden as a child with ‘ZIDANE 5’ on the back of her all-white Real Madrid kit.
Nineteen goals in 28 appearances were enough to win Weir the award for the club’s player of the season. In one of her first games, she scored the goal to knock her former employers Manchester City out of the Champions League.
Honourable mentions
There were three Britons who played for Real Madrid in their amateur era. Charles Wallace played a solitary game on loan for CF Madrid in 1908, on loan from Barcelona. Arthur Johnson, who was born in Ireland, and Guillermo Linney represented the club, in addition to Lindsay, Stampher and Vickerstaff, whose first names are unknown.
