Gareth Bale’s sudden retirement came as a surprise to the footballing world. The Welshman recently took to social media to announce that he was hanging his boots up for good, just six months after a move to the MLS to play for Los Angeles FC.
Now, the end of Bale’s time at Real Madrid may have left a bitter taste in the mouths of many fans, with some more than disappointing moments during his final seasons at the club. Yet, his contributions to many of the trophies the club won in that golden period were invaluable. Such is the value of a player for whom Real Madrid broke their own record for the highest transfer fee paid for a footballer at the time, and any British footballer in history.
And for those merits, a player like Bale – along with his accolades – becomes immortalized. Whether or not it’d be right to grant him the status of a Real Madrid legend or icon is another discussion in itself but the sensational moments of magic that the Welshman left behind in the Spanish capital are impossible to devalue.
On the occasion of his farewell to the game, let’s recount some of the factors that played a part in moulding Bale’s mostly glamorous time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
A Special Talent
There’s no denying that Bale’s time at the club shouldn’t have ended the way it did, for his potential was enough to mesmerize the Premier League before even having stepped foot in Spain. Southampton picked him up as a teenager, before featuring for Tottenham Hotspur from 2007 to the summer of 2013. His time in England was joyful, as the Welshman was transformed from a defensively suspect full-back to the best winger in the English top flight under the management of Harry Redknapp.
The goals and assists came in abundance as a result. His hat-trick at the San Siro in a 4-3 defeat to a Javier Zanetti-led Inter Milan was perhaps the highlight of his Tottenham Hotspur career. In the summer of 2013, Real Madrid swooped in with a world record fee to sign him. Bale had proven his worth, having won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year, the season before.
The Galactico Real Madrid were getting was an incredibly fast winger with strength, unreal dribbling ability and a thunderous shot on him. And sure enough, in Bale’s initial seasons we saw much of that.
He became the centrepiece of the Wales national team and his career in Madrid was beginning to take off as well, first under the management of Carlo Ancelotti and then Rafa Benitez.
Many believed this to be the brewing point of a duel with Barcelona sensation Neymar. In times when Spanish football was still home to the Messi vs Ronaldo rivalry, El Clasico for years down the line would’ve craved for just that.