Reports: Tottenham Hotspur to make Gareth Bale the highest-paid player in the Premier League
Gareth Bale's one-year loan return to Tottenham Hotspur will see him become the highest-paid player in the Premier League.
This is according to Guardian, who claim that the Welsh winger will earn a base salary of £600,000-a-week during his loan spell. The details as to how his wages would be split between Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur is yet to be known.
Telegraph reported that the initial deal discussed between the two clubs involved a swap, with Dele Alli going the other way for a season.
The details of the deal would have involved Spurs contributing £300,000 to Bale's wages. However, they would stand to recoup half of their outlay as Real Madrid would have had to cough up the entirety of Dele Alli's wages.
However, as it would turn out, Alli did not make the move to the Spanish capital, and only Bale is returning to England.
The winger is set to fly into London with his Real Madrid teammate Sergio Reguilon, who has also signed with the club in a deal worth £27 million.
Tottenham Hotspur beat out Manchester United in double swap
Tottenham Hotspur managed to stave off concrete interest from Manchester United - especially in the case of Sergio Reguilon - to seal the two transfers from Real Madrid.
Manchester United were locked in talks with Real Madrid to work out a deal that didn't involve a buy-back or a first refusal clause and had agreed to personal terms with the left-back. They were also, reportedly, loath to spend £27 million on the player.
Tottenham Hotspur swooped in during the negotiations and agreed to all of Real Madrid's demands, tilting the transfer in their favour.
With respect to Gareth Bale, it was reported that United's interest never really progressed past the preliminary stage despite their inability to land primary target Jadon Sancho.
In addition, Bale's agent put out a statement that the player was still 'in love' with Tottenham Hotspur and that he would like to play for the club again.
However, despite completing two high profile signings, it is reported that Spurs are still in the market for a striker as requested by Jose Mourinho, with the club having a bid rejected for Southampton marksman Danny Ings.