Real Madrid's Gareth Bale "is on the verge of signing another multi-million pound contract" less than three weeks after he became the world’s most expensive footballer, according to Charles Sale of the London DAILY MAIL. Adidas, with whom Bale has been associated since he was 16, is "hopeful" that Bale "will agree a long-term extension to his boot deal and personal sponsorship." Bale’s six-figure agreement "has surprisingly been allowed to run down into its final year." Adidas "had been uncertain" whether to make Bale its marquee player while he was not in the Champions League, or at the World Cup with Wales. All that "has changed," especially since adidas supplies Real Madrid’s shirts. Adidas is "now prepared to pay what it takes to keep Bale out of the clutches of Nike," which has Cristiano Ronaldo as its "poster boy." An adidas source said, "We are confident that we can keep Gareth, who has always been very loyal to the brand. But the deal has to be right for both of us. It helps that we have the experience of handling David Beckham when he was at Real Madrid" (DAILY MAIL, 9/18).
