Real Madrid appear to have already reassigned Gareth Bale's number 11 shirt before the Welshman has completed his move to Tottenham.
Sportsmail exclusively revealed on Wednesday that Bale has agreed a season-long loan deal to return to north London after his relationship with Los Blancos has deteriorated in recent years.
And the Spanish giants appear to have wasted no time in cutting ties with their four-time Champions League winner after his number 11 shirt was reassigned to Marco Asensio on the official La Liga website.
The 31-year-old's move back to Spurs has not yet been announced but arrived at the club's Enfield training ground earlier today to finalise the deal.
Bale will earn more than £13million in wages as part of the one-year deal negotiated by Tottenham chairman Levy. After flying into Luton airport shortly after midday on Friday, he was driven to the club's training base and was greeted by excitable supporters giving him a hero's welcome.
Even with the deal close to completion, Bale's manager-to-be Jose Mourinho refused to be drawn into public comment on the Bale move after Thursday night's 2-1 Europa League victory against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Bulgaria.
'I can't comment,' he said. 'I don't comment on something that I don't know. For me, at this moment, until Gareth Bale is a Tottenham player I still think and respect the fact that he is a Real Madrid player.
'I am not going to comment on a Real Madrid player.'
Bale became a fan favourite at Spurs where he scored 56 goals and provided 58 assists in 203 appearances.
In 2012-13 he was crowned Tottenham's Player of the Year and also claimed the PFA Players' Player of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year, Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season award.
The Welshman has won four Champions League titles since making the move to Spain for a then-world record fee in 2013 but has found life tough under Zinedine Zidane.
The French boss has struggled to take to Bale and has largely kept him out of the side since returning for his second spell in charge.
Bale saw a move to the Chinese Super League collapse last summer but having played such a peripheral role in their title win last season, both the club and the player have concluded it is best for him to move, at least temporarily, elsewhere to return to his best.
⚽CR7FOREVER⚽
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Real Madrid is disrespecting Bale. He scored more goals than R9 for real Madrid, won more trophies than Zidane at real Madrid, but the respect they are showing towards him is not acceptable. Madrid did similar type of thing by handing over no. 7 jersey to player like MARIANO, then there fans were criticizing Barca in Messi's case saying Barca don't respect Their players.