Gareth Bale contract: Real Madrid insist Welsh star’s deal is worth just HALF of reported £750,000-per-week
Club sources claim six-year contract keeps Welsh star below Cristiano Ronaldo on Los Blancos money-list
GARETH BALE has signed a new mega-bucks six-year deal at Real Madrid.
But, while sources close to Bale claimed it is worth a staggering £360,000 a week AFTER tax, Real Madrid insisted it is worth just half that.
At £360,000 a week net the Welshman, 27, would be on an astronomical £39million a year — £750,000 a week.
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That would put him above Real team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo as well as Barcelona superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar.
But Real officials last night briefed the new deal actually puts Bale on a par with captain Sergio Ramos at £18m a year BEFORE tax.
And the Spanish giants privately insist Bale is now the second-best paid player at the club alongside Ramos.
SunSport understands Ronaldo’s new deal is also in the pipeline and he will stay at £36m a year.
The Welshman’s new contract includes bonuses for winning trophies and individual awards such as the Fifa Ballon d’Or.
The Bernabeu superstar also has a massive get-out clause in his contract — the highest in the game alongside Ronaldo’s — to keep him out of the hands of Manchester United and the rest of Europe’s biggest spenders.
Bernabeu chiefs yesterday confirmed SunSport’s exclusive story from last week about Bale’s new contract.
The club’s statement read: “Real Madrid and Gareth Bale have agreed an extension to the player’s contract, keeping him at the club until the 30th of June, 2022.”
Bale gets a whopping pay rise on the six-year deal he signed after joining from Tottenham for a then-world record £86million in the summer of 2013.
But Los Blancos also wanted to tie him down before their Fifa transfer ban kicks in next year.
That prohibits Real from registering any new players during the next two windows in January and August 2017.
Bale has already landed five major trophies with Real including the Champions League in 2014 and again this year.
And he has scored 62 goals and made 34 assists in 135 competitive games for the Spanish giants.
Real also gave new deals to Luka Modric and Toni Kroos recently.
But president Florentino Perez was desperate to keep Bale at the club.