As of June 30, Gareth Bale will no longer be a Real Madrid player. The Welshman will become a free agent and will leave the Spanish club after nine years. He arrived at the club in 2013 from Tottenham for 101,000,000 euros, and the truth is that Bale's time at the club left a bittersweet taste.
Bale played 258 games for Real Madrid, scoring 106 goals and providing 67 assists. In addition, he was voted the Best Player of the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final played in Kyiv, and won the Ballon d'Or at the 2018 Club World Cup. But most importantly, the 32-year-old Welshman helped the Merengue conquer 19 titles, including five UCLs. Bale's performances that fans will remember the most will be the 2018 UCL final and the 2014 Copa del Rey final.
But as the years went by, Bale's level began to decline, not because of his quality of play but because of personal reasons. He was no longer a key player in the team, his level decreased, and he made his lack of desire to be in the Spanish team known. The latter was demonstrated when the player posed next to a flag that read: 'Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order'. In his last season with El Merengue, Bale played only 7 out of a possible 54 games. However, Real Madrid placed Bale in a very privileged section.
Gareth Bale named Real Madrid legend
Bale has been handed 'legend' status by Real Madrid and been added to their 'soccer legends' section on their website. His profile in that section is titled "The unforgettable bicycle kick to clinch La Decimotercera" highlighting his bicycle kick in the 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool. The piece goes on to brand him a "central figure" in Madrid's success over the past decade.
“Gareth Bale has been a central figure in one of our club's most successful eras, winning five European Cups, three of them consecutively, between 2014 and 2022. The Welshman arrived at Real Madrid at 24 years of age and was unveiled on 2 September 2013 before making his debut on 14 September at El Madrigal against Villarreal. He also marked his first Madridista appearance with a goal”, the piece says.
“In his impressive spell in our colors, Bale compiled a remarkable collection of trophies: 5 Champions Leagues, 4 Club World Cups, 3 European Super Cups, 3 La Liga titles, 1 Copa del Rey, and 3 Spanish Super Cups. Bale hit over a century of goals for Real Madrid, and the greatest of his 106 strikes will live long in the memory, a spectacular overhead kick in the final which yielded La Decimotercera against Liverpool. That's not to mention his header in the final for La Decima or his lung-busting run and finish in the 2014 Copa del Rey final”, reads the article describing Bale's career at Real Madrid.
At Real Madrid, Bale, along with other teammates, equaled a record that until the 2021-2022 season was only held by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Welshman equaled the record of the 37-year-old player having won the UEFA Champions League five times. After his exit from Real Madrid, Bale joins a privileged place where Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo, Alfredo Di Stefano, Raul, Iker Casillas, and David Beckham, among others, also appear.
