Real Madrid Signs Bale on six-year deal

Gareth Bale's prolonged transfer
from Tottenham Hotspur to Real
Madrid was finally completed on
Sunday after the Spanish club
officially confirmed the move for
an undisclosed fee.
"Real Madrid and Tottenham
have reached an agreement for
the transfer of Gareth Bale,"
confirmed a statement on the
club's website.
"The player will be tied to the
club for the next six seasons."
Widespread reports have
suggested that the move will
make Bale the world's most
expensive player and Spurs boss
Andre Villas-Boas said last week
he expected his club to receive a
world record fee for the player.
However, Madrid sports daily AS
claimed on Friday that Real will
pay 91 million euros ($121
million, £78 million), three million
less than Los Blancos paid for
Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2009.
Bale will be presented to the
media and the club's fans on
Monday afternoon after
undergoing a medical.
"I would like to thank everyone
at the Club, the Chairman, Board,
staff, coaches and players - and
most of all the fantastic fans who
I hope will understand this
amazing career opportunity,"
Bale said in a statement on the
Spurs website.
"I am not sure there is ever a
good time to leave a club where I
felt settled and was playing the
best football of my career to date.
I know many players talk of their
desire to join the club of their
boyhood dreams, but I can
honestly say, this is my dream
come true.
"Tottenham will always be in my
heart and I'm sure that this
season will be a successful one
for them. I am now looking
forward to the next exciting
chapter in my life, playing football
for Real Madrid."
The Welshman was coveted by
the Spanish giants following a
series of amazing performances
for Tottenham last season that
landed him both the Premier
League players and football
writers' player of the year.
Bale scored 21 goals in 33
Premier League appearances, but
his efforts still weren't enough to
lift Spurs into the Champions
League as they were edged out
of fourth place by just one point
by North London rivals Arsenal.
And the chance to not only play
with some of the best players in
the world, but also in Europe's
premier club competition was a
significant factor as the 24-year-
old made his desire to move to
Madrid clear.
Bale was criticised by Spurs'
coach Andre Villas-Boas on
Wednesday after he refused to
attend training last week in a bid
to force the move through.
"Gareth was a player we had
absolutely no intention of selling
as we look to build for the future.
He is a player whose career we
have fostered and developed and
he was only a year into his new
four-year contract," Spurs
chairman Daniel Levy told the
club's website.
"Such has been the attention
from Real Madrid and so great 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."
Indeed Bale hasn't played at all
since Spurs' pre-season friendly
against Swindon Town on July
16 as he first complained first of
a gluteal injury and then a foot
problem which kept him out of
the English side's impressive
start to their league campaign.
However, he has still been called
up by Chris Coleman for Wales'
upcoming World Cup qualifiers
against Macedonia and Serbia.
The deal lands Spurs an
incredible profit on a player they
bought for just £7 million six
years ago from Southampton.
And with his departure having
been expected for a number of
weeks, Villas-Boas has set about
significantly strengthening his
squad with the signings of
Roberto Soldado, Paulinho,
Etienne Capoue, Nacer Chadli, Erik
Lamela, Vlad Chiriches and
Cristian Erisken to take the club's
spending for the summer to over
£100m.
After a difficult spell following his
move from Southampton, Bale
didn't begin to truly shine with
Spurs until he was moved from
left-back into a more advanced
position on the left during the
2009/2010 season.
The following year he shot to
prominence by scoring a hat-
trick against then European
champions Inter Milan at the San
Siro and helped guide Spurs to
the quarter-finals in their first
ever participation in the
competition before they were
eventually hammered 5-0 on
aggregate by his new employers.