In the long and ever-growing list of strange transfers in football history, Thomas Gravesen to Real Madrid was undoubtedly one that raised a few eyebrows.
The midfielder moved to the Bernabeu from Everton in a £3m during the 2005 January transfer window in a move that left many scratching their heads.
While the Danish midfielder had been one of the stars at Goodison Park, there was plenty of doubt about whether he was anywhere near the level required at the Spanish giants.
To this day, few know why or how he ended up there, so Marca have looked to clear up some of that confusion with some background information on the move.
They explain that, back in 2005, Real Madrid weren’t exactly at their peak and they knew that changes were needed in the January transfer market.
It was felt that their midfielder was lacking ‘punch’ and Gravesen’s name ‘suddenly appeared’ as a possible signing to fix that when an agent offered him up.
Madrid’s chiefs decided to send someone to go and have a look at the Everton midfielder, who had a ‘good reputation’ in the Premier League but the first reports on him ‘were not very positive’.
Other names continued to pop up, but as each one became harder to get, Gravesen’s stock started to grow. That led to a second trip to watch him, one that yielded far more positive results than the first.
“He runs, he fights, but… the best thing is how he gets on the throw-ins,” it read, which was apparently enough to convince Madrid to make the move.
By January 15th he was a Madrid player, going on to make 49 appearances for the club before joining Celtic in 2006, with a brief loan spell at Everton once more before retirement in 2008.
For the Blues, he remains something of a fan favourite, but in Madrid, they only put him with the ‘mistakes’. A mistake with a little less mystery behind it now, though.
