Gareth Bale has finally completed his transfer to Real Madrid for a record £85.3million.
The Welsh international has signed a six-year deal at the Bernabeu worth a whopping £300,000 per week.
The transfer replaces the previous record fee of £80million that Real Madrid paid Manchester United for Bale’s new teammate Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was desperate to keep Bale at the club but the player was attracted to playing for the Spanish giants.
Levy said, “Such has been the attention from Real Madrid and so is Gareth’s desire to join them that we have taken the view that the player will not be sufficiently committed to our campaign in the current season.”
The 24-year-old moved to White Hart Lane from Southampton for £10million in 2007. After originally struggling to make an impact, he went on to become his side’s most pivotal player and won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award for the 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 seasons. In total, he scored 55 goals in 203 games for the North London club.
Bale’s fine form last season still couldn’t lead his side to the Champions League as they were beaten to fourth spot by rivals Arsenal on the final day of the campaign. It was from that moment onwards that his future began to come into question.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez made it clear that he was interested despite Tottenham’s reluctance to sell. Ultimately, Bale helped pushed the deal through by confirming his intention of moving to the Spanish capital.
Speaking for the first time as a Real Madrid player, Bale said in a released statement, “I have had six very happy years at Tottenham but it’s the right time to say goodbye. We’ve had some special times together over the years and I’ve loved every minute of it.”