Gareth Bale has signed a new Real Madrid contract that is worth £18 million a year and will keep him tied to the club until 2022. The Welshman’s contract takes him to June 2022 when he will be 33 and makes him football’s third-highest paid player behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Messi and Ronaldo earn net salaries of around €21 million (£19 million) while Bale’s earning puts him ahead of Neymar, whose recently signed deal with Barcelona took him to an estimated €17 million (£15 million).

Bale joins Lucas Vázquez, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, who have recently extended their deals with the club. Bale moved to Spain from Tottenham for a then world record £85 million move in 2013, winning two Champions League trophies since.

He has scored 50 La Liga goals in 90 games and has struck seven in this campaign. In total, he has claimed 62 goals and recorded 34 assists in 135 official games for the Spanish giants.

He has also helped Madrid lift five trophies during his three years at the club, including the Champions League in 2014 and 2016.

Madrid have been looking to tie down their leading players as they also fight a Fifa transfer ban for breaching rules governing the transfer and registration of players aged under 18.