Football’s ten biggest release clauses revealed as Gareth Bale tops list with staggering £900m buyout fee
The Real Madrid winger put pen to paper on a new Bernabeu deal - but which other stars have eye-watering release fees?
GARETH BALE'S buyout clause after signing his new Real Madrid deal is set at just under £1BILLION.
And even if anyone could stump up the massive £900,300,000 fee, the Wales winger has said he wants to stay in Spain.
Here are the top ten biggest release clauses in world football.
1 Gareth Bale
Bale broke the record transfer fee when he moved to Spain in 2013 and, despite being overtaken by Paul Pogba, now commands the biggest buyout clause of anyone in the game.
Clubs will have to stump up more than £900million for his services.
2 Cristiano Ronaldo
The Real Madrid and Portugal star may still surpass Bale in terms of wage, but his increasing years mean he is not so valuable on the transfer market.
Most reports put his figure for a move at around £657m with some saying it could stretch almost to £1bn.
Ronaldo , 31, is one of the most marketable sports stars on the planet but it seems even the financial might of former club Manchester United may not be enough to get him to return.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still the main man at Real Madrid
3 James Rodriguez
The former Puskas Award winner has a buyout clause of £426m.
But, struggling to find game time under Zinedine Zidane, the Colombia star spends most of his time sat on the Real Madrid bench.
4 Neymar
The Brazil skipper signed a new contract with Barcelona last week and it included a whopping £210m release fee.
Neymar, 24, now makes £275,000 a week and though suitors Man City can easily match that, the buyout clause should be out of the league of every club.
5 Lionel Messi
The little Argentinian has been at Barcelona since his youth-team days and had he not been so loyal, then it is fair to assume the buy-out clause for the skillful forward would be higher than the £179m the Catalan giants inserted into his current deal.
6 Luis Suarez
The Nou Camp striker's Jekyly-and-Hyde personality provokes mixed reactions from football fans around the world. However, there is no doubting his quality and there is a £160m release clause in the 29-year-old Uruguayan's current contract.
7 Andres Iniesta
Spain's classy midfielder may be 32 now but he is still key for Barcelona, where he has won eight La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues.
And, such is his importance Barca, have slapped a £143m buyout clause in his contract.
8 Sergio Ramos
Real Madrid's stalwart defender has been a rock ever since he joined from Sevilla in 2005.
He may be in the autumn of his career at the age of 30 but he is still a favourite at the Bernabeu and it will cost a cool £125m to land him.
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9 Jordi Alba
That a left-back has a £107m buyout written into his current contract shows how much Barcelona value him.
The pacy Spain international, 27, signed a new deal at the Nou Camp last year.
10 Sergio Busquets
Yet another star of this unbelievable Barcelona winning machine.
The holding midfielder does not make the sort of headlines as some of his more illustrious team-mates but Busquets, 28, is a key component and club bosses insisted on a £107m release fee.
