By Andrew Warshaw
September 2 – The worst kept secret in football was officially rubbed-stamped on Sunday as Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale joined nine-time European champions Real Madrid on a six-year deal for a staggering world record transfer fee of €100 million (£85m).
After hundreds of column inches in both England and Spain, and all manner of discussions about the prospective sale on footballing talk shows, both clubs issued statements saying the deal for the thrilling Welsh international, who made his early name at fullback before developing into an at times unstoppable attacking wide midfielder-cum-forward, was done.
Bale, 24, was being unveiled to the Spanish media at lunchtime today (Monday) as the most high-profile transfer on what is expected to be a flurry of last-minute activity during the final 24 hours of the summer window.
Tottenham had spent the early part of the summer insisting Bale was not for sale and attempting to hold on to their most prized asset. But once Real came calling and the player expressed his desire to move, the deal became inevitable.
Bale’s fee eclipses the previous record of €94 million that Real paid for Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009.
Tottenham have already spent the money on a series of exciting summer signings, including smashing their own transfer record three times, in order to appease the fans and, after relying almost totally on Bale’s stunning exploits, build a more balanced squad to compete for honours both this season and over the next few years.
But jewels like Bale, who began his career at Southampton, only occasionally come along. “He is an absolutely wonderful player,” said Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas who, like the fans, will wonder whether Bale would have completed his dream move to Real had Tottenham not failed by a solitary point to qualify for this season’s Champions League.
“He has left us with great memories from last season which every Tottenham fan cherishes. He has moved on and we have moved on as well.”
The departing Bale, who was only a year into a new four-year contract at Tottenham, will certainly be hard, if not impossible, to replace and in a statement he commented: “I have had six very happy years at Tottenham but it’s the right time to say goodbye.”
“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. I am well aware that I would not be at the level I am today were it not for firstly Southampton and then Spurs standing by me during some of the tougher times and affording me the environment and support they have. 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.”
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, renowned as a fierce business negotiator, was informed by Bale’s representatives in July that he wanted to speak to Real but made it clear that selling arguably the third best player in the world had not been an option.
Couching his disappointment and frustration in classic chairman-speak, Levy said: “Gareth was a player we had absolutely no intention of selling as we look to build for the future. 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.
“We have, therefore, with great reluctance, agreed to this sale and do so in the knowledge that we have an exceptionally strong squad to which we have added no fewer than seven top internationals. More importantly, we have an immense team spirit and a dressing room that is hungry for success.
Bale made his league debut as a 16-year-old for Southampton in 2006 before joining Tottenham the following year. Last season, he scored 21 Premier League goals for Spurs – many of them spectacular, gravity-defying efforts – and was named Footballer of the Year both by football writers and his peers.
Level headed and modest, Bale certainly does not fit the stereotypical highly paid, flamboyant footballer. But his life is about to change forever as he will come under the microscope like never before.
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