Watching arguably the best player in the world fulfilling his dream to play for Real Madrid is touching to say the least. Ronaldo spent six great years at Manchester United and even the fans were happy for him since he helped the club win every single piece of silverware available. It probably was the time for Ronaldo to move on and seek new challenges, but was it the best move? Seemingly yes, however, recent history contradicts the notion.

The question is: can Ronaldo escape the consequences of playing for Madrid, which so many players have faced before? History takes us back to David Beckham’s high profile transfer to the Spanish giants in the year 2003, Beckham and Ronaldo wore the same no. 7 shirt at Old Trafford. Beckham’s celebrated transfer captured highlights for many weeks; he was another star amongst the galáctico. Madrid believed to have compiled a dream team of the time, Raúl, Zidane, Ronaldo (the Brazilian), Figo, Roberto Carlos, Guti and Casillas — a team that otherwise would exist only in fantasies. Beckham’s arrival strengthened the image. Ironically, the winger only ended up winning a single Spanish League title during his four years at the Bernabéu before moving on to LA Galaxy. While he was at Manchester United, he scored a goal every fourth game but the ratio descended to one goal per seven games at Madrid.

Since then, Beckham has struggled to keep his place in the English outfit. Alarmingly, he still seems to await a major offer by an alluring soccer club. The hopes of getting a permanent contract at AC Milan have diminished quickly enough, and he really needs that contract to be in contention for the English squad to play in South Africa.

Beckham’s arrival at the Spanish capital marked the last season of an extremely talented English fielder, Steve McManaman. Steve’s first year with white angels was an absolute success where he became the first English player to win the European Cup with a foreign club, but the then new entrants Zizo, Figo and Ronaldo restricted Steve to the bench. The cheering crowd doesn’t necessarily help moulding the marketing driven policies exercised at the Santiago Bernabéu. This may be debatable for many gauge the performance of a midfield player by the stats but Steve did lose his goal/assists average while playing at Madrid. Later, he headed back for the English premier league to join Manchester city, not knowing that a curse was awaiting him. After two frustrating seasons he was released to find himself out of contract. The third greatest English club footballer opted for an early retirement thus.

In terms of performance, Michael Owen did quite well in his maiden season at Real Madrid, achieving a count of 18 goals from 41 games, only 15 of which were starts. Owen had a slow start with Spanish champions but a successful time with English National team revived his form. Owen concluded the season with 13 goals in Spanish league; English striker had the highest ratio of goals scored to number of minutes played during the season. At the end of season though, Real Madrid signed the Brazilian duo of Robinho and Baptista, sending Owen way down the pecking order. Fearing that his chances for first team football were limited, Owen left for England and signed a four-year deal with Newcastle United. His time at St James Park, however, proved to be the worst in his career, he was plagued with injuries and managed to appear only in 71 games to score just the 26 goals, a performance quite low for a player of his stature. At the end of the season Newcastle United was relegated from Premier League and Owen became a free agent. His initial days failed to magnetise the interest of any top-of-the-league club until Manchester United grabbed his services in a surprise move, potentially a career saving decision for the free scoring striker. Sir Alex Ferguson has given him the famous no. 7. If played well the position undoubtedly is a bid for success in England.

Contrary to what the English press suggests there are in fact two Ronaldos — both best players of their time. While the Brazilian World Cup winner played for Madrid, he wore the same shirt that Cristiano now does. It may have been trimmed a bit recently though. Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid after winning the 2002 World Cup (remember his two goals in the final). His time at Bernabéu Stadium was far from being pleasant; he won the Spanish league twice but failed to achieve his dream of being the European champion. Ronaldo walked out of Madrid to AC Milan not knowing that ill-fate was to follow. In the year to come, injuries barred him to play for AC Milan, and his career has come to a dead end ever since.

Not many people remember the gutsy Danish midfielder named Thomas Gravesen who used to play for Everton before he was signed by Real Madrid. He was pulled in to fill the huge gap that the club faced in their defence. Being a defensive minded midfielder, he appeared to be a perfect pick. His time with the Real Madrid was not void of any controversies either. Furthermore, he signed for Celtic and later came back to Everton but was soon without a contract, bringing his football career to a sudden and abrupt end.

Fernando Hierro the former Real Madrid captain encountered a similar fate when after being released by the Spanish side he played briefly at English premier league club Bolton wanderers but soon announced his retirement. Former Spanish footballer Fernando Morientes Sánchez spent eight years at Real Madrid where he scored 72 goals in 182 appearances but after he left Madrid, his spells at Liverpool and Valencia were anything but successes. He is currently out of professional contract and is seeking an entry into a club to play some football.

But there are a few players who escaped this fate; Jonathan Woodgate is one for he managed to rescue his career at White Hart Lane. And who can forget Claude Makélélé unceremoniously parting company with Madrid but was equally successful with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain proving that a disaster is not inevitable.

But the riddle remains unsolved. Is Real Madrid really a cursed picture jumping straight out of some suspense novel?
Does the career of a football star stall after leaving the club or may be it is really the zenith of their professional life that provides them an opportunity to add to the glitter of the Bernabéu? Will Cristiano Ronaldo be able to save the glitz that starts wearing off when one leaves Real Madrid or does he really have what it takes to dodge all the controversies, push the scores high and to keep shining even when he walks out of the ground? Let’s see.