One of world soccer’s richest and most successful clubs, Real Madrid don’t do things in half measures. They can regularly be seen outspending the world’s other clubs on the transfer market, with the word “galactico” (meaning superstar) now a recognized term in football circles. The galactico project was started by president Florentino Perez at the beginning of the millennium, with the philosophy of signing the world’s very best players for massive transfer fees.

Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham were the first set of superstars arriving through the Santiago Bernabeu’s revolving doors between 2000 and 2003. Perez’s first tenure came to an end in 2006, but he returned in 2009, signing Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso, dubbed “the second galacticos”.
With the aid of such supreme players, and home grown stars Raul Gonzalez and Iker Casillas, Real Madrid have won four La Liga titles since the turn of the century and two European Cups.
When Jose Mourinho replaced Manuel Pellegrini as coach in 2010, he offloaded stalwarts Raul and Guti as he looked to make his own print on the history of this famous club.