From Cardiff to Nanjing, via Madrid: Bale set for £1m-a-week China deal

Football world in shock as Gareth Bale quits Spain for record salary to help President Xi Jinping fulfil his sporting ambitions

The footballing megastar Gareth Bale has won trophies galore in his coruscating career, not to mention the respect of his rugby-loving home nation. Now the Cardiff-born player, Wales’s most famous export since Catherine Zeta-Jones, has a new challenge: to sell the beautiful game to China at a time when it has become something of a political football.

Reports suggest the ex-Spurs striker is set to leave Real Madrid to join Chinese club Jiangsu Suning on a three-year deal that will see him earn £1m a week – double that of the world’s current highest-paid player, Argentina’s Ezequiel Lavezzi, who plays for Hebei China Fortune.

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from Football | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2yhnoR0