Wales winger Bale confronted by pitch invaders during World Cup qualifier

Now he's the most expensive player on the planet, Gareth Bale has got to get used to fervent fans.

But the £86 million Real Madrid star looked a little taken aback when two supporters got a little too close for comfort during a half-time warm-up in Macedonia.

The Wales winger was warming up on the pitch with fellow substitute Adam Matthews when they were confronted by two fans.

Celtic midfielder Matthews stepped in to give Bale protection before security staff hurriedly hustled the man away, and Bale did his best to laugh off the incident.

Two close: Pitch invaders confront Gareth Bale at half-time

But it was still an alarming reminder for the 24-year-old of the sort of superstar attention that will follow him around since his world record move from Spurs.

Bale was named among the substitutes for the World Cup qualifier in Skopje amid concerns over his fitness and he failed to appear as Wales went down to a 2-1 defeat .