Playing alongside Ronaldo was lure for Bale

Welsh international soccer player Gareth Bale bounces a ball on his head during his official presentation at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid

The Wales international completed his 100m euros (£86m) transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid yesterday morning in what was the biggest and most protracted deal of the summer transfer window.

Across London, Arsenal shattered their own transfer record with a £42.4m deal for Real’s German midfielder Mezut Ozil.

The biggest deal involving a Yorkshire club was the £5.25m Hull City paid to Tottenham for England midfielder Tom Huddlestone nearly three weeks ago, with manager Steve Bruce unable to break that again last night when a deal for West Brom forward Shane Long fell through.

But the story that has dominated the news agenda throughout the window was finally completed with less than a day to spare as Bale passed his medical before being presented to the fans at the Santiago Bernabeu yesterday lunchtime.

Bale has signed a six-year deal with the fee eclipsing the £80m Madrid paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.

Asked about the transfer fee and what pressure he felt, Bale said at a press conference in Madrid yesterday afternoon: “It’s as much pressure as I put on myself.

“I wanted to come here and play the best football and I’m going to give 100 per cent and try to help the team to win things.

“The transfer (fee) had nothing to do with me – that’s between Real Madrid and Tottenham. I wanted to come here whether it was for a penny or whatever it cost.”

Although he has replaced Ronaldo as the most expensive transfer in history, Bale still believes the Portugal international is the leading player on the planet.

He also revealed the former United star was a big reason why he wanted to join Madrid.

“Cristiano, for me, is the best player in the world. He’s a massive factor in why I wanted to come here,” said Bale.

“There’s no better than him and it’ll be an honour to play with him and we’ll have a great team and hopefully win a lot of things together.

“I don’t think I need to help him (Ronaldo) because he’s already proved he’s the best in the world.”

Bale was introduced at the famous stadium to a crowd of around 60,000 supporters and was invited to do a showcase of his skills, which did not go quite as planned.

Bale said: “It’s a very surreal situation. Even when I was doing my keepy-ups I was very nervous.

“To be in front of the amazing fans who made me feel very welcome was a privilege and I can’t wait to get started.”

Spurs and Real have clashed on several occasions throughout the summer as the Bale transfer saga waged on.

Tottenham were annoyed at the stage being erected at the Bernabeu for a possible Bale presentation two weeks ago and the idea of Bale shirts being sold on the Real Madrid website.

But the biggest gripe Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had with Real was with their public flattery of Bale, which he thinks unsettled the player.

Asked about the transfer saga, Bale insisted he never feared his dream move might break down at the last minute.

Last year’s PFA player of the year said: “No, it’s an absolute pleasure to be here. Florentino (Perez, Madrid’s president) and Jose (Angel Sanchez, the club’s director general) have made a lot of effort to bring me here and I put my trust in them.

“It was all done the right way, they approached the club, did everything as normal. I’ve had a lot of chats with Florentino and he gave me a lot of confidence in bringing me here.”

On Levy, Bale added: “It’s obviously been a difficult time, everyone knows he’s a hard businessman but he obviously wanted to do the business for Tottenham and he’s been good for the club and has helped them grow the squad.”

Liverpool continued their deadline day recruitment drive with the signing of Chelsea forward Victor Moses on loan.

The Reds snapped up defensive duo Tiago Ilori and Mamadou Sakho from Sporting Lisbon and Paris St Germain respectively on permanent deals – for a combined £25m – before strengthening their forward line with the capture of Moses from Premier League rivals Chelsea until the end of the season.

The other big deal of the day saw Ozil move to Arsenal.

The 24-year-old sealed his £42.4 transfer having undergone a medical in Munich, where he is on international duty.

Premier League champions Manchester United were reported to have just beaten the deadline to sign long-time target Marouane Fellaini from Everton.

They also wanted Toffees’ left-back Leighton Baines but failed to prise him from Goodison Park and in a surprise move were trying to get Fabio Coentrao on a season-long loan from Real.