Real Madrid have had some of the best forwards to ever play the game in their history with names like Ronaldo Nazario and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, they came extremely close to signing Robert Lewandowski.

After impressing for Borussia Dortmund in 2014, the Polish international had the opportunity to move to Real Madrid. However, before moving to Barcelona he moved to Bayern Munich and became one of the best centre forwards of his generation.

Real Madrid are reported to have offered Lewandowski a six-year deal worth around €8.6 million gross per year. They also supposedly offered a large signing bonus of €10.95 million.

However, the striker decided to move elsewhere due to a strange clause in the deal. Lewandowski scored four goals in the 2013 Champions League semi-final for Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid.

Reports say that Florentino Perez became increasingly determined to sign the talented forward and was willing to pay a large amount of money to bring him to Santiago Bernabeu.

However, the contract reportedly limited Lewandowski from participating in skiing, skydiving, motorcycling and mountain climbing.

Therefore, he would have had less freedom to do things outside of football which may have influenced him to reject Madrid.

Lewandowski eventually signed for Bayern Munich and did not have the same restrictions in his contract. His agent later revealed that the striker's preferred choice was greatly influenced by sporting factors.

Karim Benzema was a current Real Madrid player who was already a legend for the club and has won the Ballon d'Or. However, signing Lewandowski whilst he was at the height of his career could have created a more fearsome attack.

Having Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in attack would have created the most lethal attacking trio in Europe.

Whilst Lewandowski flourished at Bayern, Benzema remained at Madrid. However, Lewandowski moved to Barcelona where he had great success and even impressed his previous suitors.

Both teams were massively successful however it shows how a strange clause in a contract can influence transfer history as Madrid missed out on the Polish international.