The aeroplane seat helping Gareth Bale get to sleep

Footballers are often told to keep their feet on the ground, but for Gareth Bale that’s not an easy thing to do when you routinely travel at 36,000 feet.

In an average season, the Real Madrid man boards an aeroplane 35 times as the club compete in competitions in multiple continents across the globe. 

Travelling long distances and playing in different time zones means getting the required amount of sleep to recover from training and games can be difficult.

Sleep deprivation can result in an increase in injury, so Bale has teamed up with a hi-tech sleep brand to develop the perfect plane seat for nodding off.

The SIMBA Air-brid is a cross between a seat and a bed and promises to create the perfect sleep environment thanks to a host of cutting edge innovations.

The design includes a memory foam mattress for optimal comfort and heat regulation, while gentle automatic adjustments recline the seat and ease pressure on the back and spine.

It even features an innovative orange light-therapy system, soothing scent infusions and ground-breaking physiological sensors to help Bale fall asleep.

The seat is able to monitor noise, temperature, light, humidity and particles in the air, while an accelerometer and gyroscope adjusts his sleeping position accordingly.

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