A record £85million move to Real Madrid would be the stuff of dreams for any young footballer. Just ask Jude Bellingham.
From his arrival in the Spanish capital in 2013, Gareth Bale began a trophy-laden spell that included winning the Champions League five times to make him Britain’s most successful footballing export. But it wasn’t enough for some fans, the Spanish media or crucially, boss Zinedine Zidane.
Zidane benched Bale for the Champions League final in 2018 against Liverpool before bringing him on a sub. Bale produced an incredible overhead kick in a 3-1 win.
Wales teammate, keeper Wayne Hennessey, said: “He’s upset if he is on the bench. But he has that mentality then of: ‘alright when I do come on, I am going to make a huge impact’.”
Yet Bale’s perceived willingness to prioritise his beloved Wales over his Spanish paymasters continued to cause friction.
Relations took a turn for the worse when he celebrated reaching Euro 2020 with team-mates behind a flag reading: ‘Wales, Golf, Madrid - in that order’.
Dragons midfielder Joe Allen, who helped get the banner from the crowd, admitted: “Real Madrid weren’t happy with the situation but everyone in Wales was overjoyed.”
Bale’s relationship with Madrid would eventually end in an inevitable split in 2022.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague said: “He’s the best player to leave Britain ever. That’s a fact.
"He’s one of the big players in Madrid’s history. He scored more [Madrid] goals than [Brazilian] Ronaldo. He has almost double Zidane’s titles.
“Zidane never trusted Gareth Bale. The feeling the manager didn’t love you created a feeling of frustration. Things deteriorated to the level of extraordinary insults.
"Just as at the cinema, the end defines how you feel about the film and the end was a sad one.”
Meanwhile, Bale’s career may never have taken off because Southampton were one game away from showing him the door as a teenager.
Cardiff-born Bale broke through at Saints and moved to Tottenham in 2007. But Malcolm Elias, who worked at Southampton academy from 2003-2006, said: “Everybody will look at the good times – there have been bloody tough times for him and his family.
“We had offered seven players in that group a scholarship. He was number eight.
“I think we just decided, come on we’ll make a decision based on Saturday and that was D Day. Thankfully for him and for us he was outstanding.
“I remember after the game saying to his parents Frank and Debbie ‘he’s going to be fine’.”
On April 17 2006, at the age of 16 years and 275 days, Bale became the second youngest player ever to play for Southampton after Theo Walcott, who was 132 days younger.
Walcott, who used to room-share with Bale on junior trips, was shocked by the revelation about how close Bale came to the axe.
Walcott said: “I didn’t know that. Wow. Did they? They called it D-Day for him? Wow – so brutal.”
*Gareth Bale: Byw’r Freuddwyd, Gareth Bale: Living the Dream will be shown on S4C, Sunday, 9pm.
