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Real Madrid Have Already Given Gareth Bale's Shirt Number Away In One Final Insult

Real Madrid Have Already Given Gareth Bale's Shirt Number Away In One Final Insult

That didn't take long at all.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

Real Madrid have given already given Gareth Bale's number 11 shirt to Marco Asensio - despite a transfer not being official yet.

Bale is set to join former club Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan in the coming days and he has already passed his medical after touching down in London.

Neither club have officially confirmed a deal as of Friday afternoon but it hasn't stopped Madrid from moving on very quickly.

La Liga's official website have Asensio listed as Madrid's number 11 for the upcoming season, which begins this weekend.

Image
La Liga

Bale is still included on the squad page but has his squad number listed as number 25.

As well as the Welshman, Spurs will be signing Sergio Reguilon from Madrid on a permanent deal, but he has no number listed on the website.

It furthers Marca's claims that the club were desperate to "erase" Bale ahead of his departure.

In the official club shop earlier this week, every member of the first team squad has their shirt on display - except for Bale.

Image
PA

The shirts on display jumped from number 10 (Luka Modric) to number 12 (Marcelo), with no reference of Bale's number 11 shirt.

If any fan wanted to buy a shirt with Bale's name on the back, they were taken from a drawer behind the counter.

Bale also wasn't included in any promotional material for Madrid's kits ahead of the upcoming season.

The 31-year-old clearly wasn't wanted by 'Los Blancos' boss Zinedine Zidane and hopes to reinvigorate his career back at Spurs, who he left for Madrid in 2013.

While Bale played twice for Wales in the Nations League earlier this month, he isn't though to be match fit and will take around a month to reach full fitness.

Jose Mourinho will be delighted with the signing and it was revealed earlier this week he tried to sign the winger years ago.

"I tried to sign him for Real Madrid which was not possible during my time there," Mourinho begun.

"The president followed my instinct and my knowledge. The season I left, they brought Gareth to the club.

"There is no secret to that, I think even Gareth knows that."

Do you think Gareth Bale will be a good signing for Tottenham Hotspur?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: PA Images

Topics: Football News, Tottenham Hotspur, Football, Transfers, gareth bale, Sergio Reguilon, Marco Asensio, Real Madrid