CELEBRITY
LIKE MESSI; LIKE BALE! MADRID WILL NOT LET BALE GO
Real Madrid have decided they are not prepared to let Welsh winger Gareth Bale leave the club for free this summer, 12 months after they were made to regret making the same choice.
According to 90mins, Los Blancos were minutes away from offloading Bale and his reported £600,000-a-week wages to Chinese side Jiangsu Suning, only for president Florentino Pérez to block the move at the last minute as he felt Bale should command a transfer fee.
His reward for that was to pay Bale another year’s salary and watch on as he bagged more media scandals than goals.
Now, with the coronavirus pandemic crippling Real’s finances, most assumed the club would do whatever it takes just to say goodbye to Bale.
Well, it turns out that’s not the case. According to Marca, Real will demand some form of fee to get rid of Bale’s high wages as they are adamant he is still a valuable player. How’d that decision work out for you last time?
Bizarrely, it’s said that Real are ‘optimistic’ of finding a buyer for Bale as they believe the Welshman will push for an exit, despite him never doing that before and his agent repeatedly insisting that they have no plans to leave Madrid.
Mundo Deportivo go one step further and put a price tag on Bale: a whopping £22m.
Real believe Bale should command the same fee as James Rodriguez, who is closing in on his own escape from the Santiago Bernabéu. Everton are close to landing the Colombian, and Real hope Bale will be next in ‘Operation Exit’.
The difference with Bale is that his enormous wages make it almost impossible for any side to afford that £22m. Tottenham know they couldn’t, which has prompted the same speculative links to Manchester United that we get every year.
David Beckham’s Inter Miami have also been linked with the Welshman, but affording such a deal would be even harder for a Major League Soccer side.
Bale still has two years remaining on his contract, meaning Real are facing the prospect of paying him another £26m in wages before his deal eventually expires. You’d think Real would just be happy to avoid that, but that’s seemingly not the case.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo crossed one billion followers across his social media accounts, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60 million subscribers in just over three weeks.
Ronaldo, who scored his 900th career goal last week to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League, is the first human being to reach a billion followers on social media, global media reports said.
“We’ve made history, one billion followers! This is more than just a number, it’s a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond,” Ronaldo posted on X.
“You’ve been with me every step of the way, through all the highs and the lows. This journey is our journey… thank you for believing in me, for your support, and for being part of my life.”
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player reached the milestone with over 639 million followers on Instagram, 170 million on Facebook and 113 million on X.
The 39-year-old topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes this year, with off-field earnings of $60 million, boosted by his large social media following.
Ronaldo’s club Al-Nassr will host Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
-Reuters
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel on Wednesday and hundreds of thousands of subscribers signed up within a couple of hours.
The 39-year-old five-times Ballon D’Or winner plays for Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
“The wait is over. My @YouTube channel is finally here! SIUUUbscribe and join me on this new journey,” Ronaldo posted on his social media accounts.
A couple of hours after posting his first video, 1.69M subscribers had joined he channel.
Ronaldo has 112.5 million followers on the X platform, 170 million on Facebook and 636 million on Instagram.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United player is preparing for his team’s Saudi Pro League opener against Al-Raed on Thursday.
-Reuters
Inter Miami will be the last club Argentina captain Lionel Messi plays for, the 36-year-old forward said on Wednesday, adding he feels “a little bit scared” at the thought of the day he decides to retire.
Messi, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, has a contract with the Major League Soccer side until 2025 following his arrival last summer after a spell with French champions Paris St Germain.
“Inter Miami will be my last club. I love playing football. I enjoy everything even more because I am aware that there is less and less left,” Messi told ESPN.
“I’m not ready to leave football. I’ve done this all my life, I love playing football, I enjoy training, the day-to-day, the matches… And yes, there’s always a little bit of fear that it’s all over.”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is preparing with his national team to defend their Copa America title, with the tournament kicking off on June 20 in the United States.
Argentina will take on Canada in the opening match before facing Group A rivals Chile on June 25 and Peru four days later.
-Reuters
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