The Frenchman's shock loan to the Spanish giants promised so little, and still managed to deliver even less
It was a season to forget for Real Madrid. Despite having a squad full of big names, the 2008-09 campaign was a total failure as they finished well behind Barcelona to surrender their La Liga crown, and crashed out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey embarrassingly early.
There was, however, something about that diabolical year that gives it a special place in the annals of football history, as it involved one of the most baffling transfers in modern history.
When the kings of Europe put in a call to sign West Ham's unspectacular full-back Julien Faubert, both his agent and the player himself suspected they were on the wrong end of some bizarre prank. Imagine, then, the reactions of football fans around the continent when the one-time France international was unveiled as a new addition at Santiago Bernabeu.
What followed was not a simple flop signing. It was a mystifying and humorous debacle that included accidentally skipped training sessions and supposedly falling asleep on the bench, bringing something memorable to an otherwise empty season in Madrid.
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Real Madrid had built a rather strong squad for the 2008-09 season. The Spanish giants boasted the likes of Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Fabio Cannavaro, Raul, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Iker Casillas, Marcelo, Arjen Robben, Gonzalo Higuain, Wesley Sneijder, Guti, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Saviola in their ranks.
The pressure, then, was on coach Bernd Schuster to improve on the previous campaign's results as, despite having won La Liga, their last-16 Champions League elimination did not sit well with the club's hierarchy and fans, and much more was expected this time around.
By early-December, though, Madrid's season was almost in ruins. They sat fifth in the table after losing 4-3 to Sevilla, and with a Clasico against Barcelona up next, they could not risk the degradation continuing, so they sacked Schuster and brought in Juande Ramos.
He managed to turn things around – only after losing 2-0 to Barca – but it was clear the squad needed more work in January. And so, they dipped into the transfer market, signing Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Ajax and Lassana Diarra from Portsmouth.
That, apparently, wasn’t enough, as the Bernabeu decision-makers decided to make one last signing on the final day of the transfer window – bringing in Faubert from West Ham. The Frenchman joined on an initial loan deal with an option to sign him to a three-year contract in the summer.
It was a bewildering transfer, sure, but an opportunity for the right-back to prove his worth and earn a tremendous step up to the biggest team on the planet. Did he seize the opportunity and make the most of it? Well, there’s a reason this isn’t the story of 'Julien Faubert, Real Madrid legend'.
AdvertisementGetty Images'No time for this bullsh*t'
Faubert was hardly a phenomenon for West Ham. Having struggled with injuries in his first season at Upton Park, he was not setting the world alight in his second. He started 15 of their 23 Premier League games in the first half of an inconsistent campaign under Alan Curbishley, who was later replaced by Gianfranco Zola. So, it's easy to understand why his own agent was confused when the Spanish giants came calling in January.
Yvan Le Mee later told the story: “I called a friend in Spain. I said: ‘Look, somebody from Real Madrid called me about Faubert. It’s so strange.’ He called the sports director to check and phoned me back. ‘Yvan, it’s true. They want to see you at 7am tomorrow at Heathrow airport’.”
Even Faubert was in disbelief. "We were on the team bus making our way to Upton Park to play Fulham," he said years later. "I received a call from this French guy at Real Madrid and he said to me: ‘Hi, I work for Real Madrid and we have to talk to you.’ I told him I have an important game to prepare for and I don’t have time for this bullsh*t. I switched off my phone, we played the game and after the match I switched on my phone and saw around 30 text messages and 50 voicemails. That’s when I knew it was serious.
"So I called my manager and he said to me we have to talk with Real Madrid because they are in a hotel at Heathrow. It was the last day of the transfer window and we went there and started to negotiate."
Even as the negotiations started, it was unclear if Madrid really wanted Faubert. They were hoping to sign Antonio Valencia, but were hesitant to meet Wigan’s £25 million demands. It was coach Ramos, fresh off of a spell at Tottenham, who had been pushing for them to sign Faubert instead after being impressed by him in the London derby matches against West Ham.
Soon, talks with Wigan over Valencia broke down and Faubert became the only option with the transfer window nearing its end, and a loan deal was arranged.
The journey begins
Even after Madrid confirmed the signing of Faubert, few could still believe it. The perplexing nature of the move is perfectly captured in Madrid icon and honorary president Alfredo Di Stefano’s utter shock as he stared at the new signing while holding up his shirt to present him to the press.
Faubert had come through the same youth academy as Madrid and Fance legend Zinedine Zidane, but no one was under any illusions that he would replicate his compatriot.
The full-back had to wait just over a week for his debut. He was named on the bench for a La Liga game against Racing Santander and replaced Robben for the final 30 minutes as Madrid went on to win 1-0. His performance did nothing to stun coach Ramos, though, as it would be over a month before he would play again – coming off the bench again to play 24 minutes in a 5-2 win against Athletic Club.
That would be his final appearance – 54 minutes in total, meaning Madrid paid €28,000 per minute considering the €1.5 million loan fee they spent to bring him in.
“I didn’t have the opportunity to show what I could do on the field. I worked hard, but Robben played in my position. A player who scored goals in every game,” Faubert said.
AFPBenched
The shock of the move and his failures in the Spanish capital made Faubert a bit of a laughing stock. One criticism he received was that he was not fit enough to play for Los Blancos, which he explained away in hilarious fashion, saying: “I have never been a slim or slender player. I was in shape, it must be the colour of the white shirt that makes you gain weight!”
Things only got worse, though. He was left out of the squad for a game against Recreativo Huelva on a Saturday evening in April. When the team got together the next day for training, Faubert was nowhere to be seen, as he thought he had the day off.
“I always asked some player who spoke English or Lass Diarra what schedule we had and that time I left without asking. That went against me,” he said.
He ended up receiving a fine, even if Ramos did not take it too seriously. “The boy had a lapse, but nothing more,” he said. "He thought that Sunday was a day off, as was the natural rule . It was a lapse, and there is no problem.”
The comedy only increased from then, culminating in him being ridiculed for apparently falling asleep on the bench in a match against Villarreal. Faubert has always denied that his eyes were closed, but he did admit that he had such a relaxed, disinterested demeanour because he was “angry” that he would not get to play as the season neared its end.
The following week, his final game at the Bernabeu, fans held up a banner that read: "Thank you for everything, Faubert".
