Gareth Bale 'agrees new Real Madrid deal until 2021'

Real Madrid star Gareth Bale has committed his long-term future to the Santiago Bernabeu by signing a new lucrative five-year deal until 2021, according to Marca. The new agreement will see the former Tottenham Hotspur star becoming the second joint-top earner at the Champions League winners, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 27-year-old forward moved to the La Liga giants in the summer 2013 after Los Blancos paid €101m (£81.6m, $114m) to lure him from White Hart Lane, making him the most expensive player of all time before Manchester United broke that record with the signing of Paul Pogba.

The Welshman enjoyed an impressive debut campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu, scoring a goal in the Champions League final to help Real Madrid to achieve La Decima and also netting the winner in the Copa del Rey victory over Barcelona. However, his future at the club came under scrutiny in the campaign 2014-2015 after a number of fitness issues hampered his development, and Real Madrid failed to win any silverware.

Yet, despite reports linking him with a move back to the Premier League, Bale decided to stay at Real Madrid and during the 2015-2016 campaign managed to replicate his best days at Tottenham , helping his side to win the Champions League again while scoring 19 goals in 31 appearances for the club.

Following an impressive Euro 2016 campaign with Wales, the former Spurs hero has started the new season in the same way, netting a brace in the La Liga opener against Real Sociedad to lead his side to a comfortable 3-0 victory despite the absence of Ronaldo.

Marca now claims that Real Madrid have decided to reward him with a new long-term deal until 2021.

Los Blancos are yet to make the deal official but the report says that everything is agreed for the player to increase his current salary of €10m (£8.6m, $11.3m) a year to something only just below Ronaldo's salary. The Welshman was until now in the same level of Sergio Ramos and the new deal will put him ahead of the captain and only behind the Portuguese star as the highest earners at the Champions League winners.

The Spanish publication recently reported that Ronaldo is also set to sign a new deal until 2021, which is expected to be official next month. Los Blanco will then assure the continuity of their two major stars for the long-term.

Meanwhile, Marca adds that the La Liga giants also want to commit the future of Martin Odegaard to the club with a new long-term deal – despite the Norwegian starlet being expected to leave the Santiago Bernabeu on loan before the end of the transfer window to continue his development elsewhere.