Cristiano Ronaldo Statue Sculptor Reveals New Gareth Bale Bust

The same sculptor criticised for his statue creation of Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed a new bust commemorating team-mate Gareth Bale ahead of their UEFA Champions League final against Juventus in Cardiff.

Not content with his questionable attempt recreating Ronaldo's image, Emanuel Santos unveiled a £25,000 homage to Bale prior to the Welshman's homecoming, per Glen Williams of MailOnline:

Santos came under fire for the cartoonish attempt at sculpting Ronaldo's face before defending his work of art, per BBC News, but it's safe to say this latest Real reimagining—made in promotion with bookmakers Paddy Power—has a more comedic tone.

According to Williams' report, the bust took 264 hours to create and was made in Porto, Portugal, before being flown to Cardiff, Bale's birthplace and the scene of Saturday's European final between Real and Juve.

However, the Welshman is in a fight to start on Saturday having not featured for his club since April 23 due to a calf injury.

The Telegraph provided a side-by-side view of Santos' two Real Madrid-inspired statues, and it would be hard to argue the sculptor hasn't at least made some improvements for his Bale tribute:

The bust will be on display in Cardiff city centre's Paddy Power store until Sunday, at which point we'll know whether the Wales winger has earned his third Champions League trophy with Los Blancos.

Failure to do so will almost certainly mean Santos isn't asked back to create any further Real busts, while victory may see the Portuguese artist recalled one day as something of a good luck charm.