Ranking Real Madrid's 2014 Transfer Window Signings on Last Season's Efforts

As it often is, the summer transfer window was a busy one for Real Madrid in 2014, as the club once again made a number of high-profile splashes into the market. 

Arriving after sparkling World Cup campaigns were Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez and Keylor Navas, while Javier Hernandez also made the switch to the Santiago Bernabeu on loan from Manchester United. 

Such additions, inevitably, forced a number of exits, with Angel Di Maria, Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Morata, Nuri Sahin, Diego Lopez and Jesus Fernandez all let go. 

So how did the new faces fare last season?

Across the following slides, we rank them on their performances in 2014-15.

4. Keylor Navas

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When Keylor Navas arrived at Real Madrid to force Diego Lopez to the exits, Marca labelled it "a political solution to a footballing issue."

Lopez, of course, was the other goalkeeper who'd become embroiled in the nasty Iker Casillas saga of Jose Mourinho's tenure, and moving him on was supposed to restore the keeping battle to a matter founded upon meritocracy rather than politics. But it didn't. 

After spending two league seasons on the bench, Casillas was reinstated as Real Madrid's first-choice gloveman by Carlo Ancelotti and kept the position almost unchallenged, despite several stretches of poor form. 

Thus, Navas, who'd arrived after tremendous stints with Levante and Costa Rica and who was meant to solve the club's problem between the posts, largely sat, unused, on the bench. 

In all competitions, he started just 10 of Real Madrid's 59 games, and finished the season—because of the paucity of playing time—looking like a lesser keeper than he did when he'd arrived. 

3. Javier Hernandez

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There are two ways you can view Javier Hernandez's season at Real Madrid: Either that it was a failure because he barely played, or that it was relatively successful given he scored goals in the few occasions when he did. 

After arriving on loan form Manchester United, playing time was always going to be hard to come by for the Mexican behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale. In all competitions he made just 11 starts for Los Blancos, and was forced to settle for 21 second-half cameos—many of them just five-to-10 minute stints when games had already been decided. 

But there's a remarkable stat from Hernandez's season: In 859 minutes of league play, he scored seven goals. That's one goal every 122.7 minutes—the eighth-best figure in La Liga and a figure that's better than those belonging to Luis Suarez, Carlos Bacca, Aritz Aduriz, Karim Benzema, Luciano Vietto, Mario Mandzukic, Alberto Bueno, Paco Alcacer, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale among others. 

Hernandez also bagged the all-important winner against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, once again showing that when he's given a chance, he scores. And scores often. 

2. Toni Kroos

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The 2014-15 season was one of transition for Toni Kroos, who arrived at Real Madrid as an attacking midfielder and had to be groomed to replace Xabi Alonso at the heart of Real's system. 

In the early part of the season the German found the positional switch difficult, watching Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad expose him—and the rest of Los Blancos' midfield—to land significant blows to Real Madrid. 

From late September to December, however, the former Bayern Munich star was supreme in the "Alonso role," operating as a silky, new-wave deep-lying playmaker. With Kroos in top form, it wasn't a coincidence that Real Madrid put together 22 consecutive victories. 

But once 2015 arrived, fatigue dented the 25-year-old's season—he'd admitted he was tired in November—seeing his influence wane as opposing sides found it increasingly easy to burst through Real's midfield that had been run into the ground by an alarming lack of rotation from Carlo Ancelotti. 

In 2015-16, expect to see a lot more from Kroos, with new manager Rafa Benitez likely use a more physical body alongside him in a 4-2-3-1, and is also likely to rest him at various intervals. 

1. James Rodriguez

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At £63 million, his price tag was hefty. Very. But by the end of the season, he'd justified it. And that essentially sums up James Rodriguez's 2014-15 campaign. 

Having arrived as the club's latest Galactico following a breakout stint at the 2014 World Cup, the Colombian faced extreme levels of expectation at the Bernabeu. What's more, his signing was viewed cynically, given that it forced Angel Di Maria out the door and affected the balance of the system that had won Real Madrid their 10th European Cup. 

But such problems weren't his own doing, and he quickly set about justifying the large fee Los Blancos had outlaid to sign him. 

In 43 starts for Real across six competitions, he raced to 17 goals and 16 assists playing as both a midfielder and forward at different stages of the season. Rodriguez's presence in the XI also produced some insane statistics for Real Madrid, the team functioning at its best when the 23-year-old was in the lineup. 

Additionally, the former Monaco star consistently showed he's capable of sublime pieces of skill, with his stunning goals against Granada, Almeria, Malaga and Deportivo La Coruna sticking in the memory.