Alex Rodriguez treats himself to new private plane

Alex Rodriguez has treated himself to a new private plane just in time for the festive period.

The retired professional baseball player has splashed out a huge sum on a Gulfstream IV aircraft, which can sell for around $40 million, in time for the festive period after ditching his old LearJet 60 plane.

According to gossip website TMZ, the 42-year-old sportsman - who is dating Jennifer Lopez - has doubled the flight mileage capacity with his new aircraft, and it even comes with his A-Rod Corp logo on the tail.

Alex is said to have taken delivery of the plane in Florida on Wednesday.

One of its great features is that it seats up to 14 people, which could be ideal to transport Jennifer's nine-year-old twins Max and Emme, and his daughters Natasha, 13, and Ella, nine, around the world.

Alex may well want to whisk the 48-year-old stunner away somewhere special soon because it has been reported the pair have been "talking" about marriage.

The showbiz power couple are said to have held discussions with their kids about the possibility of them tying the knot, and their broods are keen on them marrying.

A source recently said: "All the kids want Jennifer and Alex to get married. There are definitely talks about getting married, but Jennifer is old-school and will wait for the engagement ring before she entertains any wedding talk.

"They are very happy that all the kids get along and have accepted their new family. Jennifer feels Alex is her true soulmate and can't believe how happy she is with him. Alex smiles any time marriage comes up."

The couple previously admitted they both "understand" each other.

Jennifer said: "I understand him in a way that I don't think anyone else could, and he understands me in a way that no one else could ever. In his 20s, he came into big success with the biggest baseball contract [at the time]. I had a No. 1 movie and a No. 1 album and made history. We both had ups and downs and challenges in our 30s, and by our 40s we'd both been through so much. And more importantly than anything, we had both done a lot of work on ourselves."

Alex added: "We are very much twins. We're both Leos; we're both from New York; we're both Latino and about 20 other things."

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