<p>Gareth Bale said his drawn-out move to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee was "stressful to say the least".<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 24-year-old joined Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday for 100 million euros ($131.97 million), a fee which made him the world's most expensive player, the day before the transfer window closed and after months of speculation about his future.<br />"It was a long time. It was very stressful to say the least," Bale told BT Sport on Thursday.<br /><br />"I knew their interest from the start and I was always confident the move would go through but obviously the chairman Daniel Levy had to do his business and do Tottenham well so I kind of understood that.<br /><br />"But at the same time, thinking of myself, it was a hard time, it was stressful and I just had to be patient and try and focus."<br /><br />Bale is currently preparing for Wales' upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Serbia after being unveiled at Madrid's Bernabeu on Monday.<br /><br />He has not played since July and missed most of Spurs' pre-season training due to injury, so is unlikely to play the full 90 minutes in either Friday or Tuesday's qualifier.<br /><br />He rejoined his Wales team-mates soon after being presented to thousands of fans as Madrid's latest "galactico" signing and said it was somewhat of a relief to be back among familiar faces. "It's obviously been a whirlwind few days," the former Southampton player said.</p>
<p>Gareth Bale said his drawn-out move to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee was "stressful to say the least".<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 24-year-old joined Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday for 100 million euros ($131.97 million), a fee which made him the world's most expensive player, the day before the transfer window closed and after months of speculation about his future.<br />"It was a long time. It was very stressful to say the least," Bale told BT Sport on Thursday.<br /><br />"I knew their interest from the start and I was always confident the move would go through but obviously the chairman Daniel Levy had to do his business and do Tottenham well so I kind of understood that.<br /><br />"But at the same time, thinking of myself, it was a hard time, it was stressful and I just had to be patient and try and focus."<br /><br />Bale is currently preparing for Wales' upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Serbia after being unveiled at Madrid's Bernabeu on Monday.<br /><br />He has not played since July and missed most of Spurs' pre-season training due to injury, so is unlikely to play the full 90 minutes in either Friday or Tuesday's qualifier.<br /><br />He rejoined his Wales team-mates soon after being presented to thousands of fans as Madrid's latest "galactico" signing and said it was somewhat of a relief to be back among familiar faces. "It's obviously been a whirlwind few days," the former Southampton player said.</p>