Gareth Bale Transfer: Real Madrid's World Record Signings (PICTURES)
LOOK: From Figo To Ronaldo, Via Zizou
The Huffington Post UK
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Getty
Gareth Bale is finally a Real Madrid player after his world record transfer to the Santiago Bernabéu from Tottenham.
This is nothing new to Madrid or president Florentino Pérez, for he is the man who has sanctioned four world record transfer fees in the 21st century.
Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan and Manchester United, clubs rich with history and clout in world football, have relinquished their prized assets to the Spanish side.
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Bale has become the fifth world record Madridista
Bale would be an exception to the norm, though. Unlike the quartet that have preceded him, he is not a Ballon d'Or winner. In fact, he has never won a trophy, having been injured for Spurs' 2008 League Cup triumph over Chelsea.
The Welshman is, however, at the same age as the most expensive player in football's history was when he left Old Trafford for the Spanish capital four years ago.
So here are the awesome foursome who made history.
Real Madrid record transfers
Luís Figo (2000)(01 of08)
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A transfer that made you question what all the fuss was about when Sol Campbell moved from Tottenham to Arsenal seem tame, Figo joined Madrid from arch-nemesis Barcelona for £37.2 million in 2000...
(02 of08)
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And was met with some impressive levels of vitriol when he returned to the Camp Nou. To the left of the corner flag, beside the steward's foot, is the most famous pig's head in football.
Zinedine Zidane (2001)(03 of08)
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Madrid broke the world record a year later when Zinedine Zidane, then considered to be the best footballer on the planet, arrived from Juventus for £45.62m.
(04 of08)
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Like Figo, Zidane was a recent Fifa World Player of the Year and former Ballon d'Or winner, and his signing continued the era of the galácticos.
Káka (2009)(05 of08)
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Months after rejecting Manchester City - who finished in the bottom half of the 2008-09 Premier League table - Káka became the first galáctico of the second Florentino Pérez era.
(06 of08)
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The move hasn't gone as planned, and Káka was quickly trumped in the summer of 2009...
Cristiano Ronaldo (2009)(07 of08)
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When, after years of courting, Cristiano Ronaldo finally appeared in a Real Madrid kit. Aged 24, he became the world's first £80m player and the second Ballon d'Or winner to join Madrid that summer.
(08 of08)
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Consistently and scarily brilliant, Ronaldo is destined to be remembered as one of the most lethal attackers in football's history.