The transfer agreement signed by Gareth Bale, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid has been leaked to news outlets.
The document that shows details of the financial installments was made public by Football Leaks and has been published across Europe.
Gareth Bale’s Leaked Transfer Document
Gareth Bales’ agent, Jonathan Barnett, is thought to be furious that this has been disclosed and made public in Spain.
He told British newspaper, The Telegraph:
“There should be an inquiry and an independent investigation because it’s outrageous. There also needs to be an apology from the Football Association to the clubs and the player. I think it’s disgraceful that people can get hold of this sort of stuff. It shows complete disregard for both clubs and the player.”
The sensitivity surrounding this document is two-fold. Not only is it a private and confidential document, but it also proves that Real Madrid chose the payment option that made Bale the most expensive footballer in history, eclipsing the 2009 transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo that took him from the Manchester United to the Spanish capital.
The fee surrounding Bale’s transfer from Tottenham has always been closely guarded as to not upset the Portuguese forward, with Madrid often denying that Bale’s transfer was the more costly.
As detailed in the document, a part of the agreement was that Bale was not allowed to be critical of Tottenham Chairman, Daniel Levy, the club’s board or any Tottenham employees.
To make the whole deal sound more contrived, it was also agreed that the official announcement to the world’s media would be that Bale’s fee was officially 95.1m euros, but the payment option taken by Real Madrid to use installments would mean that the final figure would be over 100m.
The internal political fallout from within Real Madrid is yet to be known and, although there is absolutely no suggestion that the leak came from or is linked to Gareth Bale, there is no doubt it could be in Bale’s interest to have Ronaldo upset with Madrid. There has been speculation over Ronaldo’s future – with a move to PSG having been rumoured – but with the Madrid giants facing a transfer ban, this could be the small end of a thick wedge.
