Wales goal legend Ian Rush has thrown his weight behind Gareth Bale moving to Cardiff City and says it would be 'excellent' for player, club and Welsh football.
Liverpool icon Rush saw Bale smash his Wales goal record and is backing him to fire the World Cup dream this weekend against Ukraine.
Bale leads Wales into their biggest match for years against a backdrop of Cardiff City Stadium potentially being his permanent home next season and beyond.
READ MORE: Gareth Bale's humble words on his MBE honour
Wales boss Rob Page and Bale's close friend Joe Ledley have each stated they feel a sensational move to the Bluebirds would tick a lot of boxes, while Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett feels Cardiff 'has a lot of plusses.' You can read Barnett's views in full here
Rushie has also given the Bale to Bluebirds bandwagon his backing, telling S4C: "Firstly it would be perfect if Wales qualify for the World Cup. Surely he needs to be playing. There's talk about him retiring, but if Wales get to the World Cup it's 100 per cent certain he won't retire.
"I think it would be absolutely fantastic for Cardiff. His loyalty to Wales, and to Cardiff... for me it would be excellent if we can get Gareth Bale to Cardiff."
Bale will put talk of his future on the backburner this weekend as he focusses on the showdown with Ukraine, having scored the two goals that saw Wales edge past Austria to set up the play-off final.
But he will look to address where he plays next once Sunday's game is out of the way. Tottenham, Newcastle and Southampton are among Premier League clubs keen to take Bale, but the Cardiff dream is thought to be weighing heavily on his mind and the chance to come home for personal reasons could trump everything.
Bale has a luxurious home and business interests in the Welsh capital and knows being in Cardiff would enable him to do simple things, such as the school run, and for him and wife Emma to be around those close to them after years of being abroad.
Bale would also be able to manage his game time better with the Bluebirds ahead of the World Cup, whereas the demands on him to play week in, week out would be greater were he on a bumper salary in the Premier League.
Bale's agent Barnett revealed to Wales Online the decision would be made over 'where Gareth wants to be next,' rather than money.
"No-one can pay him what he was on at Real Madrid anyway and he's already probably the richest footballer British football has produced," said Barnett. "The next move will not be about money."
Watch Cymrucast, with host Jason Mohammad on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer: https://www.s4c.cymru/clic/programme/856859362. F eaturing appearances from special guests Ian Rush, Ali McCoist and former Ukraine defender Oleh Luzhnyi . S4C will also show coverage of Wales v Ukraine from 4.15pm on Sunday.
