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Real Madrid complete signing of Bale

Gareth Bale of Tottenham Hotspur and Wales smiles as he sits in the dugout

By DAN KARELL

Finally, it’s over.

Real Madrid officially announced on Sunday that they had completed the long-awaited transfer of Gareth Bale, reportedly for upwards of $132 million in transfer fees, from Tottenham to the Madrid club. The club announced that Bale has signed a six-year contract as well, but did not disclose the transfer fee or contract amount.

Bale was the most sought-after player in this summer’s European transfer market after a season where he racked in the accolades, winning numerous English Premier League Player of the Year honors following a 21-goal season. If the reported price of the transfer is true, Bale becomes the most expensive transfer in soccer’s history, shattering the $123 million spent by Real Madrid in 2009 to acquire Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 24-year-old Welsh international will be presented on Monday at 1pm local time (7am ET) in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

What do you think of this news? Happy that the drawn-out transfer is finally complete? Do you believe Bale can live up to his lofty expectations?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

      • It isnt really as big a downgrade as you seem to think. This is a WC year and he will be getting a lot more playing time at Arsenal than he was at Real. Real is admittedly one of the biggest 3 teams in the world but Arsenal is generally seen as being in the top 10-15.

      • Haha at the very very best I rank them 15. You make a good point about playing time, even though he’s an almost guaranteed starter at madrid

      • you rank them at best 15? name 14 teams bigger than them, keep in mind they are the 5th most valuable club in the world according to a recent forbes article.

      • Narcs, Madrid, atletico, bvb, bayern, porto, galatasaray, Man U, Chelsea, city, juventus, Milan, Napoli, psg, Monaco . I was considering adding schalke to that list considering they just bought boetang, and maybe Valencia based on the way they played today vs barca. Real sociedad has played fantastic in every game I’ve seen them play

      • that list is a joke, don’t know how to respond. what is your criteria? if it is prestige then half those teams arent even close. if it is recent results, most of them still arent close. 10 years in a row in the CL last 16, only one other team can claim taht right now

      • The fact that you think Sociedad is on the same level as Arsenal pretty much ruined your entire argument as far as im concerned.

      • Ahaha they arent on my list, just gave them some consideration. And if you watched any of their games, you would know they will be challenging atletico madrid for that third place spot.

  1. If this means Madrid have to sell Ozil to Arsenal to help pay for Bale’s signing, then I’m all for it. Ozil playing in midfield for the Gunners would be simply fantastic. (I know some would like to see Benzema sold to Arsenal, too, but with the way Giroud’s playing, Benzema would be one expensive backup.)

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  2. just because i’m commenting doesn’t mean i’m totally apathetic about this whole soap opera. in two years, if madrid doesn’t get into legal trouble, it’ll be the same story with another name. when was the last time they showed above the pack? it’s been a while. i forget.

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  3. Not an RM fan or a hater, but the idea of having C. Ronaldo and Bale playing on opposite wings is terrifying. Two of the world’s top five players attacking your fullbacks at the same time.

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  4. If Madrid don’t win their league, league cup and champions……..then who will Madrid get next year?will Madrid get superman or batman 🙂
    By the way, barca needs a new center deffender, goalie and center forward, while Madrid is all stock up, even having casillas on the bench.
    Now can MLS get kaka at least to make us get excited and stop over paying American soccer players. Look Eddie Johnson askin for more money and who will be next to ask for more cash.
    So if Tim Howard comes in 2 years, will he be the highest paid MLS keeper or in the world.

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  5. Now we will find out whether Bale can duplicate last season’s fantastic performance for Tottenham for a second year in a row at Madrid. Maybe, then again, maybe not. I think Madrid should have gone for Julian Draxler of Schalke, who at 19 years old already is an excellent player and I think will end up better than Mario Gotze with the potential of being at or near the level of Gareth Bale. And his release clause is a mere 40 million euros. In any case, I think we might see Draxler moving tomorrow. Who knows, maybe Arsenal.

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