5 players you probably didn’t know played for Real Madrid | La Liga 2019-20

2. Emmanuel Adebayor

Adebayor spent the second half of the 2010-11 season on loan at Madrid. Credits: Official Twitter/@English_AS

In January 2011, Real Madrid were on the lookout for a striker to replace Gonzalo Higuain, who was out for several months with a back injury. After their efforts to lure Ruud van Nistelrooy and Miroslav Klose to the Bernabeu were unsuccessful, Los Blancos moved for Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who joined till the end of the season.

The former Arsenal man scored five goals in 14 appearances in Madrid colours before returning to England at the end of the season, turning out for Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace before moving to Turkey in 2017.

The nomadic striker has recently signed for Paraguayan side Olimpia Asuncion, claiming that ex-Manchester City team-mate Roque Santa Cruz and the club president's six-year-old son were the major influences for his move.

Although Adebayor’s time in Madrid is largely unremarkable, the circumstances surrounding his departure were mildly interesting. The Togo international, who has a notoriously strained relationship with his family, insinuated in an interview that a letter from his late brother urging Real Madrid not to keep him on at the club played a part in his exit.