The Welshman is set to be confirmed as a Blancos player imminently after Spurs finally accepted the deal, with Roma star Erik Lamela lined up as a replacement
By Greg Stobart
Real Madrid and Tottenham have agreed a world record €100 million deal for Gareth Bale to join Real Madrid.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy finally accepted the Spanish giants’ offer on Sunday and official confirmation of the transfer is expected to be made imminently.
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| Alberto Pinero | Goal Spain Bale isn’t officially a Real Madrid player yet – but you wouldn’t have thought that by the way he is being paraded in Madrid. He is all over the sports newspapers, radio stations and TV sports news channels. And let’s not forget he’s been the talk of the Real Madrid, and even Barcelona, press conferences. It has been this way for several weeks now. Even at the Santiago Bernabeu as early as last Thursday there were people wearing the Madrid shirt with ‘Bale 11’ emblazoned on the back. |
The clubs have come to an agreement on a straight cash deal to be paid in three installments, as Bale becomes the most expensive player in history, eclipsing the €93m Madrid paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
Tottenham have spoken to Madrid at length about including players in the deal, but left-back Fabio Coentrao is not part of the agreement while Real refused to include young striker Alvaro Morata in the transfer.
Bale is expected to sign a six-year contract at the Santiago Bernabeu reported to be worth €10m a year after tax, where pictures emerged on Friday of the club setting up a stage inside the stadium for his presentation to the supporters.
Tottenham’s decision to accept Real’s offer brings to an end a protracted summer of speculation and negotiations over the Welshman’s future.
Bale shocked Spurs when he told the club he wanted to leave during their pre-season tour of Hong Kong in July while Real Madrid were very public in their courtship of last season’s PFA Player of the Year.
Perez was desperate to make Bale his latest galactico signing after missing out to Barcelona in the race for Brazilian star Neymar at the start of the summer.
Bale has spent the weekend in Marbella in Spain having been given two days off by Villas-Boas, and he is expected to return to England briefly on Monday before flying out to Madrid.
Tottenham are hoping to conclude a €35m move for Roma winger Erik Lamela in the next 48 hours, with the Argentine considered a direct replacement for Bale, who was pencilled in to play on the right of a front three this season.
Spurs have agreed the basics of the deal but remain cautious following Willian’s decision to join Chelsea from Anzhi Makhachkala despite completing a medical and agreeing terms with the north Londoners.
Romanian centre-back Vlad Chiriches is also expected to join from Steaua Bucharest this week in a €9.3m deal, while manager Andre Villas-Boas still wants a left-back and a creative player before the transfer window closes on September 2.
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