Ranking the 5 best transfer windows of all time: Real Madrid

#4 Summer 2000

Luis Figo received his fair share of criticism from Barcelona fans following his mammoth move to Real

The summer of 2000 saw Real Madrid sign seven new players for a total expenditure of €122 million, accompanied by the high profile departures of Anelka and Fernando Redondo.

All those signings were a hit-and-miss, except for Luis Figo and Claude Makelele.

Figo made the almost forbidden move directly from Barcelona to Real Madrid for a humongous fee of €60 million (humongous in 2000), taking up a sweet 50% of Real's entire expenditure.

Looking back on it now, that was the transfer that sparked Florentino Perez's Galacticos policy. Criticise him all you will - you can't deny that it has been successful.

Figo spent a productive 5 seasons at the capital, winning La Liga twice and the UEFA Champions League once.

Perez's scathing criticism of Makelele before selling him to Chelsea now appears to be so, so ill-informed, with the French defensive midfielder arguably spending the best years of his playing career in the English capital.

But for what its worth, he was the engine of Real's midfield vehicle prior to the sacking of Vincent del Bosque, helping Los Blancos win La Liga in his very first season at the club.