Move was stressful, says Bale

Gareth Bale said his drawn-out move to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee was "stressful to say the least".

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.
"It was a long time. It was very stressful to say the least," Bale told BT Sport on Thursday.

"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.

"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."

Bale is currently preparing for Wales' upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Serbia after being unveiled at Madrid's Bernabeu on Monday.

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.

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.