Gareth Bale's move to Real Madrid was complicated by Cristiano Ronaldo

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·11 December 2023

Gareth Bale's move to Real Madrid was complicated by Cristiano Ronaldo

Highlights

Gareth Bale's move from Tottenham to Real Madrid was complicated by Madrid's desire to maintain Cristiano Ronaldo as the most expensive transfer ever, according to Former Director of Football Administration at Tottenham Hotspur, Darren Eales.
There were no signs of friction between Ronaldo and Bale during their time together at Madrid, as they helped the club win four Champions League trophies together.
Bale spoke openly about his relationship with Ronaldo in 2023, describing how he 'had his moments' but that he was ultimately a 'nice guy'.

Former Director of Football Administration at Tottenham Hotspur, Darren Eales, has lifted the lid on details about Gareth Bale's world record move from north London to Real Madrid in an interview with TalkSPORT. The now-CEO of Newcastle United has described how the deal for the Spurs ace was complicated by the Spanish side wanting to maintain Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to the Santiago Bernabeu as the most expensive transfer ever.

Bale really caught the eye of Los Blancos during his time at White Hart Lane, terrorising defenders in the Premier League. Having joined the club in 2007 from Southampton, he went on to score 55 times in all competitions during his first stint at the club, while also contributing with 55 assists too.

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His best season in that time was his final in the English capital, with Bale plundering 21 goals in the 2012/13 term and winning the Premier League Player of the Season award. That was enough to convince Madrid he was worth the substantial sum being demanded, as the Spanish giants forked out a whopping £85m for the Welshman.

Eales on why Bale's move to Madrid was complicated by Ronaldo

Madrid didn't want Bale to surpass the fee they paid for Ronaldo

Bale's move to the Spanish capital seemed to drag on throughout the summer, with a deal not being struck until September 2013. And Eales, who worked at Spurs between 2010 and 2014 as their Director of Football Administration, has now spoken about why the move took so long.

According to the former Spurs executive, Madrid wanted to keep the deal below the £80m that they paid for Ronaldo in 2009. Given Ronaldo's status in world football at the time, it would have been a case of ensuring he remained the biggest star at the club.

"When it got to that stage [where he wanted to move] and he was committed, it was about how do we get the maximum value possible, but it was one of the most complicated deals that I’ve ever dealt with. We were dealing with Real Madrid, who had Cristiano Ronaldo. And they wanted to get it so that Ronaldo was still the most expensive player and they were paying more, so there was a lot of negotiation about how they were going to spin it at their end because they were protecting Ronaldo. "But we got there in the end – at that stage we just want to maximise the deal obviously it was a world record transfer at the time that it took place. All of us during my time at Tottenham would have loved to keep Gareth but ultimately, he wanted to go on and have that opportunity and you couldn’t begrudge him really. He’s a great guy."

Bale had no trouble with Ronaldo when at Madrid

Bale opened up about his relationship with Ronaldo in 2023

While there might have been complications around securing a move, there weren't too many that followed once it was completed. With Ronaldo and Bale both at the Bernabeu, Madrid dominated European football, with the duo winning four Champions League trophies together, as well as a solitary La Liga title in the 2016/17 season.

Bale, despite scoring 106 goals for Los Blancos in 258 appearances, was never as big of a hit among the Madrid supporters as his Portuguese teammate. It even got to a point early in his career when Ronaldo had to defend his partner, telling the Spanish media to, "leave him alone."

Bale himself would open up about his relationship with Ronaldo years later while playing golf at the BMW International Open Pro-AM tournament. When asked what the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was like, he said he 'had his moments' but was a 'nice guy' for the most part.