‘I was asked not to report Bale fee due to Ronaldo’

A journalist has told how Real Madrid asked him not to report Gareth Bale’s transfer fee as it might upset Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bale joined Real from Spurs in 2013 for a fee of around £85million, breaking the previous world record fee paid by Real to sign Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Sunday Times Football Correspondent Jonathan Northcroft told of how the club asked him not to report on Bale’s fee for fear of upsetting Ronaldo.

Northcroft said: “Real Madrid is a club that is so worried about image that when I interview Gareth Bale earlier in the season, it was requested to me: ‘Don’t put in the transfer fee. Don’t put in the article what Gareth Bale cost.’

“The reason for that is because it was a world record transfer fee but Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t like to see that somebody else cost more than him.”

“Don’t put in £85million. Just say it was a lot.”

Asked whether he used Bale’s price or not in the story, Northcroft replied: “No.”