Real Madrid Hid True Gareth Bale Transfer Price To Keep Cristiano Ronaldo Happy

Football Leaks, soccer’s version of WikiLeaks, released the details of Gareth Bale’s transfer from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013. Per the documentation, Real Madrid went to elaborate lengths to preserve the pretense Cristiano Ronaldo was the world’s most expensive player.

Real Madrid bought Ronaldo from Manchester United for €96m in 2009. The Spanish Club claimed it bought Bale for €92m. The document does spell out a €92m deal, cheaper than Ronaldo. But, the actual payment terms, unless Real Madrid fronted a stupid amount of money up front, had the club paying out about €100m over four years. The latter number was reported initially, which Real Madrid disputed.

The deal spelled out that Real Madrid would announce the €92m and Tottenham was banned from revealing the true terms. Real Madrid also urged at least one journalist interviewing Gareth Bale not to mention how much he cost.

Would CR7 be vain enough to care about being the world’s most expensive player? That does not seem too out of character. Per reports, his epic sulk in 2012 was due to him not being the world’s highest paid player. He currently is that, earning about $400,000 per week (after Real Madrid covers his taxes). Bale earns a paltry $361,000.

The real question: was GQ performing a similar feat of appeasement when it claimed his abs were too perfect to photoshop.