Gareth Bale denied ever having a falling out with his former Real Madrid team mate Cristiano Ronaldo - as the possibility of a Manchester United link-up begins to circulate.
The pair played together in the Spanish capital for five seasons, before Ronaldo left in 2018 to sign for Juventus in a deal worth just under £100million. After a nine-year connection with the club, Bale has now confirmed his exit following the expiry of his contract and wrote an open letter to fans, which talked about how his dream "became reality and much, much more."
The Welshman fell out of favour with Carlo Ancelotti after sustaining long-term injuries, making just four starts this season, with three of those coming last summer. It remains to be seen what his next move will be, but it has been touted that United may consider a move; a scenario which could see him reunite with Ronaldo.
Bale has been open about his relationship with Ronaldo and previously denied that they fell out during their time together in Madrid. "Cristiano is an incredible player, I thoroughly enjoyed playing with him," he told MailOnline. "Obviously the media try and hype up these problems which were never there.
"We got on really well. He's an incredible player and what he did for the club with the amount of goals he scored. An incredible player and he is still going now."
The pair have remained good friends since Ronaldo's departure from Madrid. Following his return to Old Trafford last summer, Bale promptly took to social media to wish him well.
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"I'm sure he'll do well," Bale said, despite the media implying incidents on the pitch meant they had fallen out. "He's proven it before in the Premier League so he understands the league. He's done everything there is in football. His goalscoring ability is matched by no-one else. [I am] excited to it like everyone else."
Amid recent Tottenham transfer return links, Bale previously said when joined the North London side: "I just remember my unveiling at the stadium, and there was about 40,000 to 50,000 people there and I was just like 'oh my god.' It felt amazing to finally be there because it had been a long road in that transfer window, obviously.
"I appreciated everything Tottenham had done for me but I think they did understand at the time that when such a big club comes in for you like Real Madrid it is difficult to turn them down. Even though I was enjoying my time at Tottenham, loved the club and I still do, to have Real Madrid come for you, you'll regret saying no."
