MADRID — Emilio Butragueno has backed Real Madrid’s decision to spend a mind-boggling world record fee of €100 million (S$170 million) for Gareth Bale. The former Spanish star, now Director of Institutional Relations at Real, insisted the 24-year-old Welshman will be an astute long-term investment.

Bale made his long-awaited home debut in the 1-0 defeat to city rivals Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Primera Division on Saturday (yesterday morning, Singapore time), where Diego Costa’s 11th-minute strike gave Atletico their first league derby win over Real since 1999.

Although the sale of Raul Albiol, Jose Callejon, Gonzalo Higuain and Mesut Ozil for a combined €112 million helped finance the purchase, opinion remains divided on Bale’s price tag, with Real assistant coach Zinedine Zidane among those saying nobody is worth that amount of money.

But speaking to TODAY before the clash against Atletico, Butragueno, one of Real’s most influential power brokers, believes that regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s game, the former Tottenham star will be worth it. “He is an extraordinary player, and we are convinced he will be very helpful towards achieving our goals, and we’re very excited about what the future has in store for us, where Bale will play a very important role,” said 50-year-old Butragueno.

“When I played, they were also saying the same thing (that footballers earned too much money). But when you are a great player, there are different clubs (interested in you) and, well, it’s the market forces that decide. It’s as simple as that.”

The club recently renewed Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract, making him the world’s best-paid footballer in a new five-year deal worth a staggering £15 million (S$30.4 million) annually after tax and minus bonuses — eclipsing Bale’s annual £8.3 million — in a move believed to ensure the Portuguese superstar stays happy after losing the world’s most expensive player tag to the Welshman.

Butragueno believes head coach Carlo Ancelotti can control the volatile dressing room, which endured a fractious atmosphere during predecessor Jose Mourinho’s final term there last season. “There won’t be any problems at all. For sure, the season will be difficult, but he (Ancelotti) has a lot of experience (dealing with these situations),” said Butragueno.

Butragueno was speaking at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where he met players from the First XI, the football-based reality TV show by MediaCorp’s Channel 5, who were there for a training stint at the Real Madrid Sports City.

With the opening of the Real Madrid Foundation Technical Academy in Singapore earlier this month, he reiterated the club’s desire to build a long-standing relationship with Singapore’s football community.

In March, TODAY reported that Singapore-based event promoter Centurion Football secured an in-principle agreement for the club to play at the new S$1.33-billion Sports Hub’s 55,000-seat National Stadium as part of its pre-season tour next July or August.

But Butragueno said: “We don’t know what we’ll do next summer ... that depends on the offers we receive and the schedule. The World Cup will finish in mid-July, so it will be a tiring schedule. I don’t remember if we ever played in Singapore, but we’ll be delighted to go there.”

Tan Yo-Hinn’s trip to Madrid was courtesy of MediaCorp Channel 5.