Gareth Bale says Cristiano Ronaldo has made him feel welcome at Real Madrid.
Wales international Bale joined Madrid from Tottenham for 100 million euros (£85.3m) at the end of the transfer window, making him the world’s most expensive player ahead of Ronaldo.
Some have suggested the Portuguese might not take kindly to having that record taken away from him.
But having now had his first training sessions with Madrid following a week away on international duty, Bale had nothing but positive things to say about meeting the former Manchester United winger.
“It was amazing. He’s a nice guy, he made me feel welcome just like everybody else did,” said Bale. “They made me feel settled straight away and I’m just looking forward to getting on the pitch and doing well.”
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Villarreal, Bale concedes he is lacking match fitness having not played for Tottenham before his record-breaking move and he featured only as a substitute for Wales this week.
With the international break also depriving him of an opportunity to train with his new team-mates, he has not had a great deal of time to get up to speed with coach Carlo Ancelotti’s tactics.
“Obviously I went straight away on international duty which probably wasn’t the best but I’ve been back in the last two days now but the boys have been very nice to me and made me settle quickly and its just an honour to be here,” said the 24-year-old.
“I feel good, I’ve been training last week with Wales. I’ve had two good sessions today. I got half an hour to 40 minutes’ game time with Wales and I’m feeling good but obviously I’m a bit behind physically than everybody else but hopefully I can catch up as soon as possible.”
Bale feels he should be able to adapt easily to the Madrid style of play.
“That was a key factor in me wanting to come here the style of football obviously suits the way I play,” he said.
“I just have to get my head down and work hard in training and hopefully produce performances on the pitch worthy of everybody else.”
Bale says he ia also ready to deal with the expectation of winning trophies, with the focus on the ‘decima’ a 10th European Cup.