'Ronaldo is unhappy when he sees Bale's transfer fee'

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A journalist from the Sunday Times has revealed that he was told not to include Bale's world-record £85 million fee because it upsets Ronaldo

The extent of Cristiano Ronaldo’s obsession about the £85 million transfer fee Real Madrid paid to sign Gareth Bale has been revealed.

Over the past year, speculation over the relationship between Ronaldo and Bale has intensified, with the Portugal international refusing on some occasions to celebrate when his team-mate scores a goal.

And in an interview with BBC 5Live, Sunday Times football correspondent Jonathan Northcroft claims that Madrid are keen to keep Ronaldo sweet by telling journalists not to mention Bale’s transfer fee in any high-profile interviews with the player.

"Real Madrid are a club so worried about image that when I interviewed Bale it was requested to me, ‘don’t put in the transfer fee, don't put in the article how much Gareth Bale cost’,” said Northcroft.

"The reason for that is because it was a world-record transfer fee but Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't like to see that someone else cost more than him.”

Asked if he mentioned the transfer fee in his published article, Northcroft replied: “No.”