The curtain finally came down on the 2021/22 season last night upon the conclusion of Wales' Nations League campaign.
It's been a brutal one, and that's just for supporters, let alone the players. There seems to have been football on our screens constantly for the past few months, and with pre-season just a matter of weeks away, it's time for a well-earned rest.
Prepare yourselves now for your footballing heroes to spam your Instagram timelines with stunning sun-kissed beach photos, dashes to Dubai and eating steaks with Salt Bae. Oh to be a footballer, eh?
READ MORE: What Gareth Bale just told his team-mates in the dressing room sums up everything about Wales
Gareth Bale will have more on his mind than most when he's laying on that lounger by the pool; Wales' qualification for the World Cup in Qatar this winter means a rather tantalising carrot is dangling in front of him. It was his goal (goals) that sent them there, and it will no doubt be his biggest achievement in football to lead his country out at the world's biggest sporting tournament come November.
But in order to be there, he'll have to have a club; after his contract with Real Madrid elapsed, Bale is now a free agent. Which one that will be has been the focus of column inches for what seems like an eternity. What happens next will likely be decided in the next few weeks.
An emphatic no
Bale has always been quite coy when discussing his future over the past few months. The usual lines about focusing on Wales and the next game have been trotted out like a well-versed statesman.
But some clues have been dropped and in one instance an outright and emphatic no was delivered over a potential suitor. Last week the club president at Getafe decided to grab some headlines of his own. He told radio journalist Alberto Fernández: “45 minutes ago I spoke with Gareth Bale's representative. They have offered it to us. We have to consider and study it with the Getafe coaching staff and sports management.”
Bale's camp quickly came out to pour cold water on the links and the 32-year-old went a couple of steps further at his pre-match press conference. When asked if he was on the brink of a decision, Bale responded : "No. But I'm not going to Getafe that's for sure."
Strike them off your list, folks.
Bale the tease
Until this week, Bale hadn't addressed the links to hometown club Cardiff City. Others certainly had, though. His agent, Jonathan Barnett, in an exclusive interview with WalesOnline, said the Bluebirds had a lot of plusses.
Asked specifically if Cardiff was a credible option for Bale, Barnett replied: "Who knows? We'll look and see in due course. But I repeat there are no options on the table at the moment.
"Cardiff has a lot of plusses. He's from Wales, his family are from there. From a personal point of view it could appeal. But I emphasise this is me talking, my views, not Gareth's. I have not discussed it with him."
His international manager, Rob Page, said Cardiff "ticks all the boxes".
"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "It ticks all the boxes. Ultimately, it’s Gareth’s decision and Cardiff City’s. And I think he’s [his agent's] right to say ‘Let’s throw full focus on to the 5th'. Let’s get there first and have that discussion.
“We can carry on talking about it and guess and have our opinion on it, and it does make sense. It makes a lot of sense. He can base himself at a training ground he’s familiar with. I will put no pressure on Gareth whatsoever. It's over to him and his family and he will make the best decision for him."
Even the FAW CEO Noel Mooney joined in on the act. “He is a very special talent and we are very lucky that he is from Cymru (Wales), he grew up up the road in Whitchurch in Cardiff," he said. "His club situation is absolutely up to himself, who he signs for. I hope for him he makes the right decision in lots of ways.
“As long as he’s leading us out in the FIFA World Cup come November we’ll be happy. We are here at the Cardiff City Stadium, and the FAW is out at the Vale of Glamorgan, which is not so far.
“So from a logistical perspective, and the FAW being selfish about it, if he did come back to this area – or anywhere nearby to be fair – we’d be delighted because we’d see more of him. The more we see of Gareth the better. It doesn’t have to be Cardiff City by the way, but if he does come back to this part of the world we’d be very happy.”
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This week, Bale himself finally addressed the elephant in the room. So, Gareth, what about a move to Cardiff? "It's something I guess I need to sit down and go through, not just with my family, but with the manager here [Rob Page], with the physios here that we use, to see what would give me the best chance of being fit come November and December," he said on Monday.
"I don't really know if the standard makes too much of a difference. A football game is a football game. I feel like I'll never really lose my quality on the ball. I guess it's a conversation to be had. I haven't really looked at everything yet. I know possible destinations but it's something I need to sit down, first and foremost with my family, and then I need to speak with managers and physios and decide what's best for myself.
"I don't have a time scale. I need time to think what's the best move for me, my family, my kids and hopefully we'll sort that over the summer. I have options."
And when asked if the Bluebirds were an option, Bale responded: "I can't really say." It certainly wasn't a Getafe-style no, was it?
So what now?
It's holiday and decision-making time for Bale. He came off the bench in Rotterdam last night and dispatched what looked like a point-saving penalty but Wales were stung at the death once again. He delivered an emphatic message to his team-mates in the dressing room afterwards to make them aware of what they have achieved. The build-up to Qatar is going to be manic. The captain will want to be in the right environment in order to be in the best place both mentally and physically.
So when we will likely know his club fate? He revealed his timeframe before the Belgium game.
"I just want to be playing going into the World Cup to be as fit as I can," said Bale last week. "I think I heard the manager saying ideally he wants everybody to be playing, and everybody wants to be playing.
"Hopefully I can enjoy my holiday and then decide where I want to be and what I want to do to try and play games to be as fit as I can for the World Cup. Once I get back into playing regular football, my body will get more robust and a bit better.
"It's very difficult when you're in and out of a team to get a rhythm in terms of your fitness and health. Any player will tell you, playing week-in week-out, your body becomes more robust, you get used to it and you get fitter by doing that. I just need to play games and I'll be good to go.
"I guess whoever I go to it'll be a win-win because hopefully I'll be playing well and getting myself ready. Once these internationals are over, I'll have plenty of time to go on holiday and decide my future then."
A nation and a club's entire fanbase awaits that decision.
