It seems that whoever you are nowadays in football the 'in' thing to do is to join Real Madrid, and to make up one of the illusive, illustrious Galaticos. Everyone seems to want their share of this part in history, first it was Figo, Zidane shortly followed him, and it was around this time that the whole ‘Galaxy of stars’ thing started to arise. Ronaldo was next followed a year later by possibly the biggest of all players, David Beckham. Then Senor Owen has gone to make up another Real superstar but the question has to be asked, what is it with Real Madrid?

Loyalty is the major thing that annoys me, it doesn’t seem to matter who you are, or where you’re from, if Real come knocking then you don’t say no. Patrick Viera says he didn’t want to go due to his love for Arsenal, no-one apart from some shallow minded Gunners fan’s believe an inch of that, we all know that Madrid weren’t prepared to pay enough wages and he was devastated not to be in the top tier of the Real ‘organization’.

I presume that any player in the world would want to go there, where as with other clubs you can prove your loyalty by not moving, Real seem to operate a 24hr bandwagon service straight to central Madrid that draws players onto it with just a pinch of effort needed. If proof were needed look at Michael Owen, more than once he turned down chances to join Juventus and Chelsea, yet when Madrid asked nicely he went within 5 days.

Lets sort one thing out straight away, Real Madrid have had the best attacking force in the world, and probably still do. It is a true example of a wonderful, mouthwatering lineup that makes the game seem so much bigger than it probably is, but it’s not just the team. Real Madrid holds an aura of its own, Chelsea may be able to outbid any club in the world with Roman the Russian Robber at the helm, but Real is still considered the one-and-only superclub.

So is that it? Is that the reason why everyone wants to become a Galatico? It seems that most people in the world would have us believe so, Real have manufactured an amazing reputation amongst the footballing world by firstly winning a hell of a lot of trophies, and now by signing the biggest players in the world. These two reasons have merged to make Real an amazing prospect for any player to join. Due to this immense reputation they regularly sit at the top of the pecking order for the Champions League betting, it doesn’t appear to matter that they came 4th a few years ago in the Primeria, everyone still throws money left, right and center at them.

Though I’m part of a small amount of people within the footballing world that doesn’t agree with this. Real Madrid’s team may look amazing but it’s really not that special; sure the attack is pretty amazing, but isn’t there the problem that ‘too many chefs spoil the broth’?

Real aren’t as special as their chairman and fans would have us believe, they went through a miserable spell of winning nothing for years until last year and dissent is ripe in the ranks. It doesn’t matter if Real manage to finish 8th this season, somehow bookies will put them top to win the Champions League, even if they couldn’t possibly do so!

While players such as Zidane, Figo, Owen, Ronaldo and Beckham have all been attracted by this ‘ghost of brilliance’, the Real dream isn’t quite real. Instead it looms in some alternate reality, trapped between this world and the media one, with its fans waiting for a time when one day, the dream will come true.