5 high profile signings made by Real Madrid after each of the last 5 World Cups
The World Cup is a tournament where the world's best players come together and fight it out for the right to call themselves the best. It is a competition where stars are born. It is the only tournament where unknown players become stars, stars become legends and legends become demigods.
It is also a place where players are often remembered for their missed penalties or chances much more than the breath-taking goals they have scored or stopped from conceding. The phrase ‘putting yourself in the shop window’ was coined exactly with the FIFA Football World Cup performances in mind
The last five World Cup's have seen Real Madrid going all out to capture one of the biggest and brightest players to star for their nations in the World Cup.
Let's take a look at each of the five high profile players who were signed by Real Madrid based on their performance in each of the last 5 World Cups.
Will it be the turn of a new World Cup star to don the shirt of the Los Blancos this year?
#5 Robert Jarni (Coventry City to Real Madrid), 1998
1998 World Cup in France saw Croatia defying all the odds and entering the semifinals of the World Cup only to lose to eventual champions France, with a team containing stars like Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinecki, Igor Stimac and Robert Jarni with all of them being part of the 1987 FIFA World Youth football Championship won by the Yugoslavian U-21 team.
Jarni was a diminutive wing-back who loved to get forward and possessed a thunderous left-foot. He was 30 and was an already established full-back playing for Real Betis in 1998 after starting his football journey in Hajduk Split in 1986.
An exciting, progressive full-back, whose marauding runs up the touchline became synonymous with Croatia’s style of play, Jarni played in all of Croatia's 7 matches at the World Cup and helped them win the Bronze medal in their first ever World Cup appearance and scored his only ever goal for Croatia, with a trademark left foot piledriver in a 3-0 victory against Germany, catching the eye of several of Europe's biggest clubs.
In what turned out to be one of the most bizarre transfers ever Jarni signed for Coventry City from Real Betis only to be signed by Real Madrid a week later.
Jarni only lasted for 1 season at the club and after making 27 appearances and scoring a goal he moved on to Las Palmas. He played 81 times for Croatia and after retirement, he went on to play futsal for his national side before becoming a coach.