Top five sporting moments of 2013

Bale joins Madrid

Although Gareth Bale‘s transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid turned out to not be the most expensive transfer fee the world has ever seen (that record still belongs to a certain Cristiano Ronaldo), the scenes at the Bernabeu for his €91 million unveiling still underlined the massive draw that football has on a global scale.

Thousands of excited fans thronged to see the Welsh international make a speech in English and Spanish soon after the move was approved and from there Bale has been working hard to help his new club on all fronts.

While the completion of the transfer was the most iconic element of the story, the build-up and the non-stop conjecture and speculation about his future was also incredibly astonishing to say the least as newspapers and online sites threw figures around about exactly how much the Madridistas had paid for his services; it seemed the entire world was watching.

So, for now Bale can concentrate on his football as the season spills over into another year, but make no mistake, the price tag will folow him until silverware does