The tragic cost of Gareth Bale's final year at Real Madrid

Few players in the modern era have had as horrid and as tragic a spell as Gareth Bale and his time at Real Madrid.

Signed by the club in 2013 for no less than €101 million, the Welsh winger became a global star in the Spanish capital and, unlike so many before him, certainly lived up to the hype.

However, despite baging Champions League winning goals and breaking all sorts of goal scoring and assist records, Bale’s stock at the club hit rock bottom under the previous manager Zinedine Zidane and eventually left on loan last season to pick up game time at his old club, Tottenham Hotspur.

Despite doing well in the Premier League, Bale has returned to Spain this season and seen no change in his circumstances under Carlo Ancelotti.

Unused but remarkably well paid, Bale stands as perhaps one of the most bizarre circumstances in football today, as he patiently awaits his contract in Madrid coming to an end this summer.

So how much money have Madrid spent and undoubtedly wasted on Bale this season?

The cost of Bale’s final season at Madrid

While Madrid have long since forgotten all about the fee they paid for Bale back in 2013, the club are undoubtedly still reeling from a contract extension he signed back in 2016 which significantly increased his earnings per year.

Prior to the new deal, Bale was making around €20 million per year from his basic salary at the club. After his new deal was signed, that shot right up to just under €29 million. And worst of all, it had a clause in it which saw it increase each and every season.

Indeed, it now means that Bale will earn a salary of €32,797,277 in his final season at Madrid. Despite hardly playing at all.

In fact, to date the player has only managed to muster a grand total of three appearances and 193 minutes of football for Ancelotti’s side this season. Which works out at €142,259 per minute of football and a staggering €9.1 million per appearance.