Gareth Bale in thinly-veiled swipe at Real Madrid after changing his Elevens Bar and Grill’s name to ‘Nines’
GARETH BALE has taken a subtle swipe at Real Madrid by renaming his Cardiff bar after completing his loan return to Spurs.
The Welsh superstar has changed the name of Elevens Bar and Grill to ‘Nines’ – reflecting his new number at Tottenham.
Bale, 31, wore the No11 shirt at Los Blancos for seven years but ditched it to undergo a fresh start at his former club.
He still wears the No11 shirt with Wales, having done so for the last ten years.
Bale opened the bar in 2017 but appeared to revel in its change after the outlet confirmed the new name on Twitter.
According to ITV, the manager described the new name as “a bit of fun”.
Bale’s rift with Real Madrid has been plain to see despite lifting four Champions League titles during his time in Spain.
Falling outs with supporters and manager Zinedine Zidane contributed to his exit while he was also heavily criticised for failing to learn Spanish and his love of golf.
He caused fury in November on international duty when he posed with a flag that read “Wales, golf, Real Madrid – In that order.”
It is fair to say Los Blancos were happy to see the back of him following his exit despite scoring 105 goals and adding 68 assists in 251 games.
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Alongside a frosty 45-word parting message online, they passed his No11 shirt on to Marco Asensio BEFORE his move to Spurs was completed.
Bale isn’t expected to be fit for Jose Mourinho’s side until next month as he recovers from a knee injury.
But he is hoping to hit the ground running instantly when fit and his agent confirmed he has no desire to return to Real Madrid once his loan deal expires.
Reported by the BBC, Jonathan Barnett said: “I’m sure that if things really worked out well, we’d have no problem.
“This is the club he wants to play at. I don’t see any problems if he wants another year.
“Hopefully the subject [of returning to Real] won’t come up.
“He will be so successful at Tottenham he’ll want to stay and it will be a simple deal to do the rest.”