Alvaro Arbeloa revealed he set his heart on a return to Real Madrid as soon as he discovered the Spanish giants were interested in taking him back to the Bernabeu this summer.
Arbeloa spent Wednesday in the Spanish capital putting the finishing touches on his move from Liverpool after Madrid agreed a reported £3.5m deal with the English club for the versatile defender.
The 26-year-old has agreed a five-year contract with Madrid and becomes the club's seventh signing since Florentino Perez returned to the presidency in June, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Raul Albiol, Alvaro Negredo and Esteban Granero.
Argentina centre-back Ezequiel Garay is also a new face at the club, although he was signed from Racing Santander 12 months ago before immediately being loaned back to the Cantabrian side for last season.
Arbeloa is no stranger to Madrid, as he spent five years working his way up through the youth ranks before moving to Deportivo La Coruna in 2006, and then onto Liverpool six months later.
The defender failed to establish himself in the first team during his previous spell at the Bernabeu, making just a couple of senior appearances, so when the chance arose for a second bite at the cherry, Arbeloa admits he was determined to take it.
"Since the door was opened to the possibility of coming here I was hoping for it to happen with all my heart, and I'm very happy to be able to return," he told RealmadridTV.
"Not even in your best dreams can you imagine that you are going to be in the Real Madrid first team," he said.
"Moreover, when you leave the club with the feeling of not being able to be in the first team, you know that it's very difficult to return, so for me, when this opportunity presented itself, my first objective was to take it and fortunately I'm here.
"I'm delighted and eager to take this opportunity and get out onto the pitch to train, to play and to enjoy it.
"I think that any kid, regardless of their team, would take advantage of the chance to come to Real Madrid, and especially with the sporting project here now."
The Spain international, who was part of last summer's successful Euro 2008-winning squad, spent just six months at Depor before Liverpool snapped him up in January 2007 for £2.6million.
While at Anfield, Arbeloa played 99 games for the club and the Salamanca-born stopper believes his time at Liverpool will stand him in good stead for the pressures of trying to help big-spending Madrid get back among the elite of European football.
"Liverpool are a club with an impressive history, with lots of success," he said.
"In England they are the team with the most titles...So I've already experienced that pressure and I hope that will help me now with this challenge, which is clearly the biggest in my career.
"I think I've become a better footballer and also matured. When you play at a club like Liverpool you have the chance to play with great players, I've also been called up by Spain and we`ve won the European Championships...so in these years I've learned a huge amount.
"It's made me a much better player and I hope to be able to show it, which in the end is the important thing."
Arbeloa is the latest piece in a puzzle that Madrid hope will see them challenging for honours both domestically and in Europe next season after a number of years of underachievement.
In the Champions League, nine-times European champions Madrid have failed to get beyond the last 16 in any of the last five editions, while last season they had to watch on as arch-rivals Barcelona won an unprecedented treble, leaving the Whites empty-handed for the fourth time in six years.
Arbeloa is keen to help Madrid get back on the trophy trail next season, saying: "My objective is to give it everything in training and try to win myself a place in the team, which is the objective of any player. And of course I want to help my team-mates and the team to win titles, which in the end is what counts."
