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Real Madrid have announced that forward Gareth Bale has agreed to a new six-year contract with the Spanish giants. Bale, 27, joined Real from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 for a fee of approximately €100 million and has since won the Champions League twice in three seasons. The Wales international follows teammates Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in committing their future to Los Blancos, with Cristiano Ronaldo expected to follow suit soon. In an official club statement, Real said Bale will confirm the deal in a news conference to take place at 1:30 p.m. CET Monday. It had been reported that an agreement had been reached on a deal that will include a €500 million (£452m) release clause. Bale has been tipped to take over for Ronaldo as Real's most important player in the coming years by John Toshack, the former Real Madrid and Wales coach who gave the player his international debut at the age of 17. Toshack told Cadena Ser: "I see a Real Madrid enjoying Bale at the top of his game for two or three years. I believe Bale will win the Ballon d'Or in his career. In a few years, he will become the leader [of Real Madrid]." Bale has scored 62 goals and recorded 34 assists in 135 official games for Real, forming part of the team's "BBC" strikeforce alongside Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Madrid have been looking to tie down their leading players as they also fight a FIFA transfer ban for breaching rules governing the transfer and registration of players aged under 18. The club, along with city rivals Atletico, are currently banned from registering any new players in the next two transfer windows -- until January 2018 -- but have appealed against the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Information from The Press Association was used in this report.
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