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Gareth Bale remains a huge fan favourite at Tottenham Hotspur and it is clear that the Welshman looks back on his time at the North London club with a lot of fondness.
Many Spurs fans consider Bale to be one of the club’s best players of the Premier League era, with the winger being nearly unplayable during his final few years at Tottenham.
His reputation grew even further thanks to the various trophies he won during his time at Real Madrid after making the switch to the Spanish capital in the summer of 2013.
However, it was certainly not all smooth sailing for Bale at Spurs, with the Lilywhites not winning the first 24 matches in which the Southampton academy graduate featured after his move from the South Coast (ESPN).
It was under Harry Redknapp that the Weshman exploded, never looking back after the former Spurs boss moved him from left-back to left-wing.
Gareth Bale describes Tottenham and Harry Redknapp in one word
Bale’s best season in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt may have come under Andre-Villas Boas, but it is clear that he has tremendous respect for Redknapp.
The former Spurs winger took part in TNT Sports’ latest Word Association game, where he was asked to describe the first word that came to his mind when he heard various names.
When it came to Tottenham, Bale said “memories” and when it came to Harry Redknapp, he simply responded with: “legend”.
Bale said “class” for Luka Modric, “underrated” for Ledley King, and “tall” to Peter Crouch. For White Hart Lane, he responded: “atmosphere”.
Gareth Bale may have won every trophy there is to win at Real Madrid, but you get a sense that he has a unique, warm fondness for Tottenham that perhaps he didn’t find in Spain.
Did Spurs come close to selling Bale in 2009?
Things could have been very different for the winger at Spurs, with some reports indicating that Tottenham came close to selling him to Nottingham Forest in 2009 when the Midlands club were in the Championship.
Harry Redknapp has denied that he ever considered selling Bale, but the 35-year-old’s turnaround serves as a lesson to fans as to why to never write off young players.
Two players who are in a similar situation now to what Bale in his early days at Spurs are Dane Scarlett and Alfie Devine, who are facing make-or-break seasons at Tottenham, according to Alasdair Gold.
The pair can take confidence from the fact that two of Tottenham’s greatest players of the Premier League era, Bale and Harry Kane, both had difficult starts to their careers before going on to do what they did.
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