Gareth Bale to Real Madrid is done: Di Marzio

According to Sky Sports Italia reporter Gianluca Di Marzio, a transfer sending Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid is very close to be finalized. The deal would be for £93 million, a world record, and would also include Portuguese left back Fabio Coentrao.

Gareth #Bale very close to @realmadrid: deal with @SpursOfficial for 93€. And #Coentrao probably will join spurs. #footballtransfers

— Gianluca Di Marzio (@dimarzio) August 20, 2013

As we have stated many times on this site, Di Marzio doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to these sorts of things, but the entire internet seems to have gotten behind this rumor and, as they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. Many see Tottenham's spending this offseason as an indication that the club has agreed to a deal to sell Bale. The £93 million pound deal would be £13 million more than Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2009.

The inclusion of Coentrao in this deal, according to Di Marzio, will not affect the valuation of Bale nor will the deal be dependent upon the fullback agreeing to a deal with Tottenham. Di Marzio claims that one Bale signs, Coentrao will be sold to Tottenham for about £15 million.

Bale-Real Madrid: Coentrao's valutation should be of 15£. So @realmadrid will buy #Bale for 93 and sell #Coentrao to @SpursOfficial for 15.

— Gianluca Di Marzio (@dimarzio) August 20, 2013

So there's the latest Bale news. Take it all with a grain of salt, considering the source, but this deal might be close to happen. If it does, and the price quoted by Di Marzio is accurate, then I'll be pretty happy. Spurs have done a great job strengthening before selling and have negotiated well enough to get a lot of money and a player that they need. If this happens then Daniel Levy and Franco Baldini should be knighted or something.

Update: As you can see, the above tweet says Euro. Di Marzio later tweeted a correction that the deal is, in fact, for pounds, not Euro. Here's that tweet:

Bale-Real Madrid 93 million pounds, not euro.

— Gianluca Di Marzio (@dimarzio) August 20, 2013