Despite transferring for a then world record fee from Tottenham to Real Madrid, Gareth Bale retains a certain affinity for Spurs, the club that helped him develop into the player he is today.
Now a world beater and international superstar, the Welsh forward enjoyed six seasons at White Hart Lane, where he evolved from a young left-back into a rampaging winger.
Playing alongside the likes of Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembélé during his time there, Bale attracted the interest of La Libre in Belgium during a sponsorship appearance, and was briefly interviewed about Belgian football by the newspaper.
Asked which Belgian players impressed him the most, the former Tottenham star revealed he held the likes of Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku in high esteem, but reserved special words for his former Belgian midfield teammate.
He said: “To see Dembélé as a key member of Spurs’ squad is fantastic. Tottenham play better when he’s in form. It’s incredibly hard to get the ball off him. Once he has his body between you and the ball, he can keep it for years”.
La Libre didn’t want to leave out Vertonghen either, and asked Bale, one of the quickest footballers in the world, the strange question of who ran faster: him or the centre-back?
You can already guess his answer: “I’m pretty sure I was quicker, but he’s got a good rhythm”.
Bale scored 56 goals and picked up 58 assists in 203 appearances for Tottenham.
