[Archive 2016-11-01] Bale signs contract extension with Real Madrid to 2022

Historical archive — originally published 2016-11-01. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Yesterday, Spanish capital football club Real Madrid announced Welsh winger Gareth Bale has signed a contract extension which runs through June 2022.

Bale joined Los Blancos in the summer of 2013 from London-based club Tottenham Hotspur for £85 million (about €100 million), a world-record fee at the time, and since then he has scored 62 goals in 135 matches for the club, of which he scored 50 goals in the Spanish La Liga. Spending three seasons at Real Madrid, Gareth Bale has won two UEFA Champions League trophies.

According to varying reports noted by Fox Sports, 27-year-old Bale would earn weekly about £350,000 after tax, making him the third highest paid footballer after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

After the contract extension, Bale said, "When you have the opportunity to play here [Real Madrid] you cannot waste it".

Previously, Real Madrid announced contact extension of German midfielder Toni Kroos, Croatian midfielder [[Luka Modrić]}, and Spanish forward Lucas Vázquez. Real Madrid is banned by FIFA from signing new players till 2018, due to signing under-age players.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Bale signs contract extension with Real Madrid to 2022 by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.