Gareth Bale arrives in London to close his loan to Tottenham, who will pay his card in full

Stage

at Real Madrid ended yesterday "inside the facilities."

Nobody could contemplate the last effort of the Welshman, locked in the Valdebebas gym with

and

, while the rest of his teammates finalized their set-up for the first league match, on Sunday in San Sebastián.

Today, the photographers were able to catch the Welshman's smile in London, where his loan to Tottenha Hotspur will be made official in the next few hours.

Bale landed at Luton airport on Friday and from there he moved to Enfield, the training venue for the team led by

.

At the gate of the sports city, a group of Tottenham supporters received the 31-year-old's car with applause, which they greeted with a smile on their lips.

The scene was very different from the recent reality of Bale in Madrid.

A week ago, the left-hander had returned from his commitment to the Wales national team with pain in his right knee.

Since then, pending the closing of the negotiations with the Spurs, he did not even jump to the grass to put himself under the command of

.

He was simply waiting for the call from his agent,

, to confirm the flight time to London.

No deal with

, owner of Tottenham, is resolved lightly, so it was necessary to wait until the happy agreement, which will be official shortly.

Bale will play next season on loan to

.

Although all the details of the agreement have not been disclosed, everything indicates that Tottenham will pay the entirety of its tab, which is around 15 million net per year.

With those 600,000 euros a week, the left-hander will become the highest paid of the London squad, with more than double the salary of

, the great star of

.

Outside the dynamics

It should not be forgotten that Bale's contract with Madrid, signed in October 2016, expires on June 30, 2022. So the current commitment to Tottenham will have to be updated next summer.

The footballer's conflict with Zidane regarding recovery methods, which this newspaper reported last week, has clouded the last stage of the Welshman, who could only play 120 minutes in the last 12 games of last season.

He had been left out of the group dynamic, isolated and with no intention of fighting for the position that was once his.

His image the night before Alavés, reclining on the seat and simulating a nap with the mask over his eyes, was the coup de grace to a trajectory full of ups and downs.

Bale has missed - through injury, penalty or technical decision - 150 of Madrid's 401 games in the last seven seasons.

37% of the total presentations.

In round figures, two and a half courses away from the competition.

Since 2013, doctors diagnosed him with more than 20 physical problems, with special mention for the tendons of the right ankle and the tears in the twins.

His longest absence occurred between November 2016 and February 2017. And his best year was his first, with 22 goals and 19 assists in 44 games.

However, under this rigor of the numbers has been hidden a more difficult process to unravel.

A tension that the Bernabéu only dispenses with the best and that has always been unleashed in the form of ovations and fights.

All without measure.

The fascination was born in the spring of 2014, with the goals in the Cup and Champions finals, against Barcelona and Atlético, no less.

He had arrived at the same time as

at the Camp Nou and no one dared to figure out at that time who had chosen better.

The Chilean from Kiev

However, after the departure of

, his significance was attenuated in favor of Isco, who starts on the big nights against Bayern, PSG or Barcelona.

Also in the finals in Cardiff and Kiev.

However, Gareth had a heavenly half hour up his sleeve against Liverpool.

That Chilean from the edge of the area will compete forever with Zidane's volley in Glasgow.

In these seven years, Bale's 105 goals and 68 assists were only behind

(249 and 68) and

(160 and 73).

A fearsome forward without which four Champions League titles would never have risen.

At the time of its dissolution, with Cristiano's march to Turin, Bale made no attempt to occupy the vacant throne.

Not only did he delegate any responsibility to Benzema, but he also let

, an 18-year-old boy

win his hand

.

He looked so out of place then that he didn't even mind accepting the Chinese Jiangsu Suning's proposal.

If Madrid, dreaming of an unlikely resurrection, finally backed down, it must have been to round off a final heading to London now.

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• Gareth Bale

• Real Madrid

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• Karim Benzema

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