Real Madrid: How will Gareth Bale be remembered?

Real Madrid right winger Gareth Bale will most likely leave the club this summer, but how will fans remember a player who led Los Merengues to their greatest successes?

When Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid from Tottenham in 2013, he arrived with a lot of fanfare. No transfer in history had been more expensive, to that point, than Bale, who costed Florentino Perez’s club about 100 million euros.

But Bale proved to be worth the money – and then some. As a right winger, Bale formed one of the most formidable attacking trios in recent history, combining to devastating effect with the perennially underrated Karim Benzema and the greatest goal-scoring machine in history, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bale was no slouch in front of goal either. With his ridiculous explosiveness, devastating acceleration, and powerful left foot, the former Spurs left back scored 22 goals in his first season with Los Blancos. In his first three seasons with the club, Bale never had fewer than 17 goals and would win two Champions League titles in that span.

While injuries would prevent Bale from making a profound impact in the special 2016-2017 season, the Wales international scored 21 goals in 2017-2018, including a bicycle kick in the Champions League final, to put an exclamation mark on his fourth Champions League trophy.

Bale has only one year left on his contract, and while he and his agent seem adamant that he sees the final year through, Real Madrid would like to clear some wage space by offloading the seemingly declining forward this summer. Last season, Bale scored only three goals in all competitions, including zero goals in La Liga since his early season brace against Villarreal.

The fans soured on Bale early in the season after a banner trolling the media and a few other incidents, but there were also times when they got behind Bale as a substitute. Whenever Bale showed brightly, the boos wavered, and for as sharp as he’s been criticized, the majority of fans recognize what he’s done for the club.

During the stoppage in football, fans have been reminiscing on the most impactful transfers in the last 10 years, and there’s no doubt that Bale tops the list. Not only was he productive as an individual at Real Madrid with 80 goals in 169 games despite never being the primary scorer, but he was also a serial winner with six trophies in his case. Yes, four of those trophies are Champions League titles, but don’t forget the 2016-2017 La Liga title and the 2013-2014 Copa del Rey that was the result of his insane winner in an embarrassment of Marc Bartra.

If this is the end for Bale in Madrid, perhaps some fans will say, “Good riddance”, and leave it at that, jaded by his final season with the club. But many, many others will watch Gareth Bale depart La Liga with fond memories of triumphs, goals, and wonderful counterattacking football as part of some of the greatest teams in the modern era under Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.