Real Madrid reserve number 11 shirt for Gareth Bale

According to reports in Marca – widely regarded as Real Madrid’s mouthpiece – the club has taken another step to show they are desperate to land Gareth Bale this summer, by reserving their number 11 shirt for him.

The newspaper claimed that “the soap opera for Bale has only just begun” and that the Bernabeu club is “prepared to wait for him as long as it takes, even to the end of the transfer window”.

Earlier this week, Bale moved to to trademark his shirt number and goal celebration – the Welsh winger always makes the sign of the heart, every time he finds the back of the net.

The shirt was previously won by Ricardo Carvalho, who has signed for Monaco.