Will he be best remembered as the man who helped bring the glory days back to the Spanish giants, or will his place in history be defined more by unfulfilled transfer vows and the role he played in last summer's tiresome Cristiano Ronaldo saga?

Madridistas can have few complaints as the Spanish superpowers have been awash with silverware since Calderon took up his post.

Prior to Calderon's election, Madrid's football team had not won a single major trophy since 2003 but, with coaches Fabio Capello, Bernd Schuster and now Juande Ramos pulling the strings, there have been two more Primera Liga titles and the Spanish Supercopa added to the club's list of achievements.

Calderon said at the end of last season: "This league title will be more special for me because it will be my second. It will also be the first time we win two consecutive league titles in 18 years. I think we are doing a great job."

It was a similar story on the basketball side of things, with Madrid winning the league and the ULEB Cup - their first European title in a decade - while Calderon was still in his first 12 months of office.

That was the first time in 21 years that both the Madrid football and basketball teams have been league champions at the same time.

On the flip side though, Calderon detractors could point out that while the 57-year-old lawyer was the figurehead of the club, sporting success was down to the performances of players, coaching staff and the technical team, and had little to do with the president himself.

And Madrid's transfer record during his tenure has hardly been a resounding success, with plenty of money being spent but a number of big fish slipping through the net.

However, when it comes to big transfers, former Madrid president Florentino Perez casts a long shadow indeed.

Perez's so-called 'Galacticos' policy of signing at least one star name every summer - whatever the cost - established Madrid as the most powerful club in the world, but it also set a precedent that future presidents would struggle to match.

Proof of that was in the 2006 election race to find the long-term successor to Perez, who stepped down that January after six years in charge, citing the need for change having not won any major silverware since 2003.

Five men including Calderon challenged for the position, and each of them made extravagant promises about which players and coaches they would bring in should they be elected.

It is impossible to tell how successful the other candidates would have been in fulfilling their respective pledges, but Calderon's player promises proved largely hollow.

Of the three big-name players he claimed would be bought, Kaka and Cesc Fabregas stayed put, and while the third, Arjen Robben, did end up moving to Madrid, it was not until 12 months later, for a fee of more than £20million.

Madrid's transfer failings during Calderon's presidency were not limited to those players either.

The club's long chase for Manchester United winger Ronaldo, in which Calderon played a very vocal role, has so far failed, and also landed Madrid and Calderon in the English giants' bad books.

The European champions lodged an official complaint with FIFA over Madrid's pursuit of the Portugal international and United coach Sir Alex Ferguson also hit out at Calderon following his comments about player slavery.

"In terms of great clubs, Barcelona have far better morality than Real Madrid will ever have," said Ferguson.

Calderon, however, responded by insisting his club had "conducted themselves exquisitely" in the whole affair.

He added: "We are not going to start a conflict. We're sorry that Manchester United, a club with which we have an excellent relationship, is annoyed with us because Real Madrid have nothing to do with that aspect."

Ronaldo was not the only player to shun Madrid this summer though, with both David Villa and Santi Cazorla reportedly ignoring overtures from the Spanish champions and committing their futures to Valencia and Villarreal, respectively.

That meant Madrid's only summer signing for this season was Rafael van der Vaart, and they were also unable to keep hold of forward Robinho, who left on transfer deadline day for Manchester City despite Calderon saying 24 hours previously: "There will be no player coming in and no player leaving."

Madrid's lack of success in the transfer market combined with Robinho's determination to leave suggested the club can no longer lay claim to being every player's dream destination - something unimaginable not so long ago when they were prising the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Brazilian ace Ronaldo away from reluctant sellers.

That said, as long as Madrid continued to pick up trophies, off-field matters would have stayed in the background. But this season they have stuttered, allowing a 12-point chasm to open between them and leaders Barcelona.

They were knocked out of the Copa del Rey last week and face a tough tie against Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Calderon, who once said "this club wants its money to be on the pitch, not in the bank", would no doubt have tried to put things right by splashing more cash in this month's transfer window and in the summer, but now he will not get the chance.