James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo to David Beckham, Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane...the Galacticos, then and now

Real Madrid turned down the opportunity to sign Kaka for £7m

Florentino Perez has learned from his Galacticos of 2004

Madrid have signed Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez this summer

Original Galacticos included Luis Figo, Ronaldo, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane



One of the anecdotes being shared at the Bernabeu on Tuesday when Real Madrid presented their new £60million signing James Rodriguez was that back in 2003, at the height of the club’s first Galatico era, sporting director Jorge Valdano told president Florentino Perez to sign a 21-year-old Sao Paulo midfielder called Kaka.

Valdano said he would cost around € 10m (£7m) but that in four years his club would be asking €40m for him. Perez told Valdano: 'We'll come back to me when they are asking 40 million and we’ll buy him.'

Perez’s point, and the cornerstone of the Galatico philosophy, is that you don’t buy some kid no-one has ever heard of; you buy the superstar who will fill the stadium and bring the sponsors rushing to your door. He costs more, but you make more money from signing him.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos Real Madrid unveilings



Ready, lads? Gareth Bale (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo (right) will be eager to get the La Liga season going

Best: Ronaldo has the highest goals to game ratio (1.02) of any Real Madrid player in history

Kaka did end up signing up for Madrid for € 65m (£56m) in 2009. And he did draw a crowd of around 50,000 to the Bernabeu just to see him sign and the sponsors did salivate. But he flopped on the pitch because Milan, who bought him in 2003 had enjoyed his best years.



‘Madrid have the nombres, we have the hombres’ was what Barcelona fans were fond of reminding Real Madrid supporters. ‘You have the names and we have the men’ was the boast. And Perez was guilty of buying the guy who had just won the Ballon d’Or even if that meant he had peaked and was now on his way down.



In his second spell in charge of the club he has learned from those mistakes. Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez still fit the Galatico model but they are young and hungry not already bloated by success at other clubs.



Golden boot: Rodriguez signs for Real Madrid after becoming the highest scorer at the 2014 World Cup VIDEO Rodriguez's dreams are Real

Galacticos Part I: David Beckham, Luis Figo, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Raul in 2004

Madrid’s other big mistake back in 2003, asides from ignoring Valdano’s advice about signing Kaka, was that they bought the biggest names without too much consideration for the needs of the coach on the pitch.



David Beckham was at the peak of his powers when he joined that season but so was Luis Figo who played in exactly the same position.



Real Madrid’s midfield four that campaign under Carlos Quieroz was Beckham, Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Guti – not a holding midfielder in their number and the coach ended up playing Guti and Beckham in central midfield as he did his best to squeeze everyone in.



Ambition: Kroos says he has come to Real Madrid to win trophies and his new club are a 'step up' from Bayern

Legend has it that Perez’s formula for accommodating everyone in was to line Zinedine Zidane up in the centre of defence.



Real Madrid topped the Forbes football rich list year after year under Perez but won nothing between 2003 and 2006 and never bought the holding midfielder nor the central defender that would have completed the team and made the Galaticos idea work as well on the pitch as it did off it.



This time it’s different. When Perez returned in 2009 the club signed Xabi Alonso as well as Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Kaka – he had learned that even the sharpest shooters need someone alongside them loading the bullets.

Squeeze: Real Madrid signed Beckham despite already having Luis Figo playing in the same position

TOP 10 REAL MADRID TRANSFERS

Gareth Bale: £86m Cristiano Ronaldo: £80m James Rodriguez: £60m Kaka: £56m Zinedine Zidane: £45m Luis Figo: £37m Ronaldo: £34m Karim Benzema: £30m Xabi Alonso: £30m Luka Modric: £30m

Real won the Champions League last season – something the Beckham-era Galaticos never got close to – as much for the tireless midfield running of Angel Di Maria and Luka Modric as or the goals and assists from Bale and Ronaldo.



So what would a combination XI look like? Mixing the best of the team Beckham joined in 2003 and the side that Rodriguez has just signed for, the current crop would come out on top 6-5.



The fresh-faced super-confident Iker Casillas from 2003 would get in ahead of the shaky 2014 version.



Roberto Carlos would pip Marcelo and Fabio Coentrao to the left-back slot and for a lack of viable alternatives Michel Salgado would come out on top on the right side of the defence.



Let-down: 50,000 fans came to watch Kaka's unveiling but he never reproduced the form he showed at Milan

Highlight: Ronaldo scored a memorable hat-trick against Manchester United in 2003

But it would be from the 2014 European Cup winners that you would take Sergio Ramos and Pepe to complete the defence. Paco Pavon, the young kid Quieroz had to rely on because his president did not believe defenders were worth spending money on, would not make the cut.



Up front Benzema would lose his place to the Brazilian Ronaldo in a front three that would boast Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale and in midfield Zidane would still walk into the current team despite the numerous midfield options open to Carlo Ancelotti.



The Frenchman would probably join this summer’s signings Rodriguez and Kroos in the middle of the pitch – not a holding midfielder among their number - but this is meant to be a Galaticos XI, after all.

