Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has revealed Gareth Bale "really wanted to come" to the Bluebirds at one stage this summer but accepts Los Angeles FC's offer and commercial clout was simply too much for the Wales captain to turn down.
Cardiff were very much in the conversation to sign the Wales captain, 32, and were thought to be in a straight shootout with MLS side LAFC.
Talks escalated between Bale's representatives and the California side this week and, ultimately, the player decided for a new adventure in America, signing a one-year deal reportedly with scope to extend thereafter.
READ MORE: How much Gareth Bale is being paid after signing for LAFC
It is no doubt a blow for Cardiff, but the Welsh capital city club were always working on the basis that Bale would not join this summer, as evidenced by nine summer signings to date with more understood to be in the pipeline.
There was a stage, though, it seemed, when Cardiff were confident about landing his signature, with Tan himself revealing Bale was very interested in securing a move to the Bluebirds at one stage.
"We were very very keen, he would have been a big coup for us," Tan told talkSPORT. "It would have been great for Gareth Bale to play for his hometown, all the Welsh would be very happy if Gareth Bale returned home and played for Cardiff.
"Personally, I think LAFC's offer was too attractive for him to turn down. But originally he really wanted to come, the money wasn't the matter. We came up with what we thought was a good offer to him, but finally it was very hard to compete when there is a lot of big American advertisers, a lot of commercial deals which were very good for Gareth Bale.
"We tried our best but we failed."
He added: "Initially with Gareth, it wasn't really the money, he just wanted to help Cardiff and help Wales. That's why we could negotiate with him. He tried his best to join us but eventually I think the offer from LAFC was just too big to turn down."
While clearly it was a transfer which Tan, who once owned 40 percent of LAFC before selling his stake to American investors, was tracking extremely closely and was personally invested in, he appears to accept Bale's decision to move to LA.
He has firmly left the door ajar for Bale to sign for his hometown club in the future, though, and hopes that once his business is done with LAFC that he considers the Bluebirds for his next move.
"His contract is for 12 months, lets see what happens," Tan added. "Maybe Gareth, by then, will probably want to come back and come home and serve his country, serve Cardiff, his hometown. He has never played in Cardiff, he and his family are fans of the club.
"So, hopefully, in 12 months' time, he is still young, he will only be 34, some players come back and play until they are 40 years old. So he has still got a few years he can play and hopefully he will come and play for Cardiff after this (contract with LAFC finishes)."
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