The
24-year-old Welshman joins the Whites after being crowned the Premier League’s
MVP last season with 24 goals in 44 official matches with Tottenham.
Gareth
Bale (Cardiff, Wales, 1989) is the latest addition to Real Madrid. The Whites
are joined by one of the world’s best players: Bale scored 26 goals in 44
official games with Tottenham Hotspur last season. He was also crowned the
Premier League’s MVP for his relentless evolution and his immense skill.
Equal
parts power, speed and technique define this complete player capable of
breaking away on either side of the pitch and scoring from practically any
position, thanks to a powerful left leg and strike. Bale joins Carlo
Ancelotti’s Real at 24 years old as the final piece of a legendary offensive
line-up.
Bale’s
precocity when it comes time to move on to the next stage has marked his
career. Born in Cardiff on 16 July 1989, Bale trained at Southampton, where at
the early age of 16 he made his first-tier debut at the end of the 2005/06
season. Bale played 45 matches and scored five goals with Southampton, becoming
at 17 the youngest player in the history of Wales to play with the national
squad, where he also holds the record for the youngest scorer.
Bale
signed with Tottenham in 2007 as a left back, but his drive and physical
strength earned him positions farther up on the pitch until he became the
team’s leading man on attack. He helped his squad qualify for the 2009/10
Champions League, making it onto the UEFA Team of the Year the following
season, the same year that the Spurs were knocked out of the competition by
Real Madrid in the quarterfinals. Bale, two seasons later and with better numbers
and individual awards under his belt, returns to the Santiago Bernabeu, this
time to stay.
Bale
made a name for himself in Europe during the two clashes that pitted Tottenham
against Inter in the 2010/11 Champions League. A hat-trick in Milan and two assists
at White Hart Lane were the first signs of the player’s potential greatness, a
player who, three years later, is being hailed as one of the best in Europe.
Showing consistent improvement year after year, Bale scored 21 Premier League
goals and 26 in total in his 44 official matches with Tottenham over the
2012/13 season, results that undoubtedly led him to be named best player and
best youth player by England’s Football Association twice.
