When Florentino Perez presented Gareth Bale to Real Madrid's supporters on Monday he would have had more than football on his mind.
Questions about whether Carlo Ancelotti needs Bale in his team, whether he can be accommodated without causing squad upheaval that will disrupt Real Madrid's season, or whether he will be compatible with Cristiano Ronaldo, would have been put to one side.
Bale might have been the Premier League's pin-up boy but he has already appeared - big grin, piercing blue eyes - on enough Marca front pages to last a season. Now he is officially a Madrid player, the launch of brand Bale can really begin in earnest.
Madrid missed the opportunity to show him off to the world during Sunday's midday kick-off against Athletic Bilbao in what would have been prime time in Dubai, where shirt sponsors Emirates would have been watching closely.
Instead, Emirates are now counting the days until January, when they hope Madrid will play a lucrative friendly in Dubai during La Liga's mid-winter break - with Bale as the main attraction.
Earlier this summer former Real sporting director Arrigo Sacchi described Bale's transfer as "a commercial operation", adding: "I think Madrid, through their sponsors, have decided to buy a British player."
Madrid certainly saw how Barcelona signed a new sponsorship deal with Panasonic just days after signing Brazilian star Neymar.
The audiovisual giant was already one of the player's sponsors in Brazil and after he joined Barcelona, Panasonic became one of the club's multi-million-pound global partners.
Bale will cede 50% of his image rights to Real Madrid and they hope his arrival will help increase the 512m euro income they registered at the end of the 2011-12 season - figures that keep the club inside Uefa'sFinancial Fair Play regulations and prevent too many questions being asked about an estimated debt that is close to 600m euros.
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