And the winner of the No-Bale prize is... PSG!

Posted Sunday, September 15, 2013 by Marca.com

"I know Tottenham had a higher offer for Bale than the one from Real Madrid". This quote came straight from the horse's mouth, with none other than Carlo Ancelotti disclosing the information at the Valdebebas press room yesterday. This is no coincidence. The Italian knows full well who submitted the bid, as it was his former club, PSG, which was willing to stump up €100 million for the Cardiff-born forward.

The French club was always the underdog in the race to snap up the Welshman. With European giants such as Manchester United in the mix, PSG's interest largely fell off the radar, but the club owned by Nasser Al-Khelaifi did indeed table a firm bid for the 23-year-old, and it was a whopper: €100 million. Coincidentally - or not - this is the exact same amount Tottenham claims to have received from 'Los Blancos', who themselves say they only paid €91m.

Real Madrid was reluctant to go even this high, but the competition from the Parisian outfit prompted the Bernabéu club to go for broke in order to secure a player it considered a key investment both on and off the pitch.

PSG evidently felt the same way, as it had put together a bumper wage package for the Welshman worth €9 million after tax a season, substantially more than the €6 million a year on offer in Madrid.

However, as Ancelotti noted, Bale had his heart set on a move to Real, having long dreamed of running out at the Bernabéu – as we saw at his presentation, when a picture was shown of the Welshman wearing the famous white shirt as a kid. This determination ultimately left PSG jilted and backed Tottenham into a corner, forcing the London club to accept the second highest bid for Bale. This was much to Daniel Levy's chagrin, given his eagerness to dress up the sale as a world record fee, which only PSG was willing to offer.

Whatever the case may be, it was an extremely juicy windfall for the North Londoners, who have assembled practically a whole new side using the money received for their former star man.