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The best laid plans were descending into chaos out here, with the ­Bernabeu Bale Box untouched and the world’s most ­expensive player still in London.

Real Madrid staff – preparing earlier this week for the arrival of the £86million Welshman – were instead focused on the club’s trip to play in the Teresa Herrera Trophy, a prestigious friendly at Deportivo La Coruna tomorrow.

Gate receipts from the match will go to charity.

Real, however, had hoped to cash in by selling the exclusive television rights to the event.

They had banked on there being a huge scramble to secure the first pictures of Gareth Bale, the Bernabeu’s latest Galactico, in his specially set-aside No.11 Madrid shirt alongside his new team-mates.

They had hoped by now to have had the world’s media giving them the kind of exposure they have become accustomed to over the past decade or so after landing the likes of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane.

Instead, Bale Day has come and gone. Several times.

Instead, the Tottenham ­participants in the summer’s biggest transfer saga remain in London, crossing swords with feelings running high.

Daniel Levy’s move to order Bale back from Spain on Monday came with the Spurs chairman, his ego presumably dented, deciding the record-breaking deal would be done on his terms, according to his timetable and when his replacements are in place. He had not been banking, however, on Bale’s defiance on this occasion.

The winger’s anger and ­humiliation at being made to return from Marbella to the M25 has now reached boiling point.

His anger spilled over on Tuesday morning, with his ­representatives providing the media with a bulletin saying he was “furious and frustrated” when he should have been living the dream.

All eyes then turned ­to ­Tottenham’s Enfield training complex, to see whether Bale would comply with the club’s order to return to training or whether he would stand his ground and stay away.

He stood his ground. He did not appear.

Instead there was that briefing from Bale’s camp, while Tottenham – presumably taken aback by the player taking on their no-nonsense chairman – kept silent.

Out here in Spain, eyebrows were raised at Bale’s no-show.

Not too much, mind.

Real Madrid do like a player to throw a tantrum in order to facilitate a move to the Bernabeu.

Indeed, the Spaniards have been here many times before, with transfer targets fighting their way out of their clubs.

Not least last season, when the acrimonious move of Luka Modric from White Hart Lane went all the way to the wire on deadline day.

Carlo Ancelotti had not wanted it to be that way with Bale, however.

The Real manager has a specially-planned programme waiting to be put into place, aimed at getting the Wales international in shape.

Although he was relaxed on the issue after the hard-fought league win at Granada on Monday night, Ancelotti is desperate to work with Bale and now knows that will not happen until Friday at the earliest.

Real will train behind closed doors today (Wednesday) before ­travelling north ahead of the game at La Coruna’s Riazor stadium.

Any further delays could throw Bale’s unveiling into even more chaos, as he is expected to be called up for Wales today.

He is then due to meet up with his international team-mates next week for their World Cup qualifiers against ­Macedonia and Serbia.

Tottenham will not care about all that, however.

They feel they have been put through enough inconvenience by Real over the summer. Now it is their turn.