Gareth Bale’s new six-year Real Madrid contract will see the
Welshman reportedly rake in well in excess of €115m as the Spanish
giants bet on Bale to lead another glorious era at the Santiago
Bernabeu.
Bale, who has won two Champions League titles in three years
in Spain, solidifies his position as one of the highest earners in
football along with the likes of Real team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo and
Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Neymar.
The flying winger, 27, is set to take home as much as
£350,000 a week after tax, according to British media, though the
figures vary wildly.
However, Ronaldo looks set to retain his status as top dog
of the pay packet at the Bernabeu with the Portuguese expected to become
the latest Madrid star to extend his deal in the coming weeks.
Real have already handed lucrative renewals to Luka Modric,
Toni Kroos and Lucas Vazquez to hold onto their key men with a one-year
transfer ban imposed by FIFA to come over the next two transfer windows.
Madrid arch rivals Barcelona have embarked on a fleet of
renewals to ward off interest from the cash-rich Premier League, backed
by a £5bn ($6bn) domestic TV deal.
Neymar reportedly rejected an astronomical offer from Paris Saint-Germain and extended his Barca deal to 2021.
Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed at the club’s
annual general meeting on Saturday that contract negotiations with Luis
Suarez and Messi are also under way.
Madrid have topped the Deloitte Football Money League for
the past 11 years as the highest earning club, but were overtaken last
season by Barca.
Bale joined Real for a then-world record fee of just over €100m from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.
That figure has since been eclipsed by Paul Pogba’s €105m move to Manchester United in August.
Bale the future for Real
Despite the desire to keep 31-year-old Ronaldo at the
Bernabeu for the rest of his career, Real president Florentino Perez has
long believed Bale is the man to succeed
Ronaldo as Real’s best and most marketable player.
Bale has enjoyed and endured plenty of ups and downs in his three seasons in the Spanish capital.
Goals to win the 2014 Champions League and Copa del Rey finals made him an instant hit.
However, he suffered from stinging criticism and was jeered
by the Real fans towards the end of his second season as Madrid ended
the campaign trophyless under Carlo Ancelotti.
Yet Perez’s faith and belief for the future was only
emboldened by Bale’s sensational form towards the end of last season
with Ronaldo a more peripheral figure due to a recurring knee injury.
Bale led Madrid on a 12-game winning run to end the La Liga
season to miss out on the title by just a point and to an 11th European
Cup with a penalty shootout win over city rivals Atletico Madrid.
His performances in inspiring Wales to the Euro 2016
semi-finals — their best run in a major finals — confirmed his status as
one of the world’s best.
And a first ever place on the podium for the Ballon d’Or
could follow after Bale was named among the 30 nominees for the prize
last week.
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