Transfer: 6 Brazilians who have signed for Real Madrid in last 20 years

Real Madrid just signed £26m Reinier Jesus as the latest Brazilian forward to arrive at the Bernabeu with high expectations. The 18-year-old, who has signed a six-year-deal, joined the La Liga side from Flamengo and links up with fellow teenage Brazilian stars Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo at the club. Below, we have highlighted how six […]

Real Madrid just signed £26m Reinier Jesus as the latest Brazilian forward to arrive at the Bernabeu with high expectations.

The 18-year-old, who has signed a six-year-deal, joined the La Liga side from Flamengo and links up with fellow teenage Brazilian stars Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo at the club.

Below, we have highlighted how six other Brazilians signed by Real Madrid in the last 20 years performed:

1. Ronaldo

Back in 2002, Real Madrid signed the Brazilian Ronaldo from Inter Milan.

Aged 25, Ronaldo was at his peak. It was part of their Galactico era – Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham were regulars in the team – and he scored 83 goals in 127 games.

Injury and weight problems blighted the end of his time at the Bernabeu, but it was still a very successful signing – not least the iconic hat-trick he scored against Manchester United in the 2003 Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford.

2. Robinho

A number of clubs across Europe had chased him after some stunning performances for Santos as a teenager, but it was Madrid who locked down his signature after meeting a buy-out clause in July 2005 and he scored 35 goals in 137 games for the club.

Initially he was ignored by Fabio Capello, but briefly thrived after Capello’s sacking – only to get badly injured and struggle to find form again. He caused great excitement when Manchester City – flush with cash after their takeover by Abu Dhabi United investment company – snapped him up in 2008, but it would turn out he was already past his peak.

3. Julio Baptista

Baptista began his career as a defensive midfielder, and after a series of impressive performances for his hometown squad São Paulo FC, Baptista signed for Sevilla FC in 2003. Upon signing for Sevilla, he was converted into a forward, and in his two seasons, he scored 50 goals, leading to his 2005 transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

After two unsuccessful seasons at Real Madrid with a loan spell at Arsenal sandwiched in between, Baptista transferred to Roma in Italy. In January 2011 he returned to Spain by signing for Málaga, and two years later went back to Brazil with Cruzeiro.

4. Kaka

Real then signed what seemed to be a proven talent in Kaka in 2009.

But he never found that same form for Madrid, troubled by a long-standing knee injury. After four years on and off the treatment table, he returned briefly to Milan before heading to the MLS.

5. Vinicius Jr

In 2018, Flamengo – also Reinier’s previous club – were then raided by Madrid as they moved for Vinicius Junior.

They paid £38.7m for him – he had such potential that Flamengo had tied him to a lucrative long-term deal the day after he had made his debut for them – and became the first player for Madrid born in the 21st Century.

Now 18 months into his time at the Bernabeu, he has played 31 games in La Liga – but only scored three times, a ratio that has not impressed.

6. Rodrygo

He began his career with Santos, where he played 80 games and scored 17 goals before a €45 million transfer to Real Madrid in 2019.

He made his senior debut for Brazil in 2019, aged 18.

Rodrygo, a winger signed from Santos in 2019, scored his first goal a minute into his Real debut in September last year.