Real Madrid confirm Bale signing

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.

source: www.realmadrid.com