Gareth Bale - The Real Deal

The big story, the confirmation that Gareth Bale...

..has signed for Real Madrid...

-..for a record-breaking...

-..£85 million.

When you're a boy, you see the players coming in and being unveiled

and putting on the white shirt and you think,

"One day, could that be me?"

And the day is finally here now

and it literally is a dream come true.

He had so much ability and flare -

something you don't see in many young players.

Players just wondered who this player was.

All they could see was the number on his back.

Everyone knew he was the best attacking left-back in the country.

It wasn't difficult. It was just that Tottenham took the plunge.

The Spanish club has agreed to pay a world-record fee

of around 100 million euros.

Widely considered one of the world's best players,

Bale is the latest addition to Real Madrid.

Nowadays, there is no other player in Europe or in the world like him.

He is a fantastic player. There's no doubt.

For me, at the moment, he would be the third-best player in the world

behind Messi and Ronaldo.

The spotlight will be immense. And it's whether he can cope with that.

Ability-wise, he is phenomenal.

Tonight, the Premier League has lost perhaps its brightest talent.

CHEERING

On Sunday, September 1st, after months of rumours,

speculation and negotiation,

the announcement the world of football had been waiting for -

Tottenham Hotspur had agreed to sell their biggest asset, Gareth Bale,

to the world's biggest club, Real Madrid.

COMMENTATOR: He's got it! I don't believe it!

A deal worth more than £85 million,

which makes Bale the most expensive player in the world...

COMMENTATOR: Bale! He's done it again!

..ever.

And with it, a pressure to perform like he's never known before.

Football - a truly global industry.

Across every continent, billions of pounds, euros, dollars and yen

are spent by clubs and the fans who follow their idol's every move.

The richest club of all is based here, in the Spanish capital.

At last count, Real Madrid were valued at more than 3 billion.

Their current squad alone is worth half a billion pounds.

They are the kings of the big signing, with the financial muscle

to reach for the biggest stars on the planet...

..players who become known as Galacticos,

expensive, world-famous.

Gareth Bale is the first Welsh Galactico,

following in the footsteps of superstars.

Zidane, Figo, Beckham

and the guy who has just been demoted

to the second most-expensive player in history,

the £80 million man, Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Bale doesn't come from Portugal or Spain,

nor Latin America.

Not even England.

He comes from a country known for producing

some of the best rugby stars on the planet.

CHEERING

World-class footballers, like a Ryan Giggs or a John Charles,

come along far less often.

So how did a shy, home-loving lad from Whitchurch in Cardiff

end up at the centre of a multimillion-pound transfer

to one of the most iconic clubs in the world?

This is the story of the £85 million man, Gareth Bale.

Gareth Bale was born in Cardiff in 1989.

His dad, Frank, was a caretaker at a local comprehensive school.

His mum, Debbie, a solicitor's receptionist.

But sport ran in the family. Debbie was an accomplished athlete,

while Bale's grandad played for Newport County

and his uncle, Chris Pike, for Cardiff City.

COMMENTATOR: Pike has scored! He took his time and he scored the goal!

Bale went to the local secondary -

a school more like a factory for future sports stars.

There at the same time as him,

Olympic cycling champion Geraint Thomas

and Wales and Lions' rugby captain Sam Warburton.

Physically, Bale didn't exactly stand out.

He was just one face among hundreds on a school photo.

But he would excel as an all-round athlete.

He just came across as a really, really nice, grounded young man

who had a real desire and a real drive to play sport

and succeed at sport.

He was quiet. Got about his work quietly.

Didn't really upset too many people.

Just, um...I guess, easy to get along with.

He was the kid who was good at football, you know?

"Give the ball to Bale," that was probably our main call.

If he didn't play, we didn't win.

I remember watching one game, we were playing Corpus Christi,

which is a Catholic school in Cardiff.

It was pouring down with rain.

It was like a semifinal of the Cardiff Cup or something.

He was on the left wing and he got surrounded by three players.

You think, "He's got no chance." He did some ridiculous skill,

the next thing, the kids are looking at each other,

he's off, just trotting down the wing.

There were about 10 to 12 internationals in that year group

at various sports.

And certainly, they pushed each other all the time.

They were normal pupils.

They weren't superstars. They were just, um...

And they encouraged each other to perform.

Before he'd even made it to high school,

at the age of nine, Bale was spotted by Southampton

and enrolled into their academy system.

When he reached 15, he was invited to train with the youth team.

At this point, little sign that he'd become the superstar he is now.

He wasn't rated as one of the top ones.

But we persisted with him because he was left-sided.

He did have something.

He was a good crosser of the ball.

He could beat people.

But if you were saying to me, "Was he a top player at that stage?"

The answer would be, "No."

That's probably because he didn't have the physicality

that he now obviously has.

I remember the first time I ever seen Gareth,

I think he went up to challenge for the ball to head it

and fell back on his back and had to be carried off.

That was the first time I'd ever seen him.

He wasn't very big. There's no getting away from that.

And that's when that dedication and that hunger

and that will to win overrides your physical stature.

January 2005, and it was make-or-break time for Bale.

He had one 90-minute match to save his dream of a career in football.

Mess it up and that might be it.

No academy scholarship at Southampton.

No professional contract.

No megastar status.

That was a massive, massive day in his family's life.

And I think all three of us were hoping and praying

that Gareth came up with the goods.

History will tell you we won the game 5-1, we played fantastic.

Gareth had one of those games that you dream of

when you're in that situation.

And when I saw the coach after the game, it was an obvious one

and we were both delighted for the Bale family

and Gareth in particular.

But winning a scholarship meant

Bale had to commit himself to the life of a footballer.

He'd have to move to the south coast.

Still technically a schoolboy,

he'd have to learn his trade while still finishing off his studies.

I'm sure if Gareth progresses in the next 12-24 months

as well as he has done in this 12 months,

he's got a very bright future to look forward to.

From the day he came in full-time as a scholar,

when he was 16 plus,

I think most people then would have seen a massive change in him -

physically, confidence-wise and mentally.

APPLAUSE

Bale was settling well into life at Southampton.

The hairstyle was getting a little fancier.

And the winner is...Gareth Bale.

APPLAUSE

And the recognition was starting to follow.

I'm just enjoying my football.

As long as I'm enjoying it, I'm going to be playing well

and just, hopefully, it'll continue.

Gareth was always somebody that people were speaking about.

This fabulous, left-back at the time,

a young player with bags of energy, enthusiasm.

And I had no fears of giving Gareth his opportunity.

He got into the first team and never looked back.

Still only 16, his friends back in Cardiff still sat in a classroom,

Bale had been thrown into the cut and thrust of the Championship.

COMMENTATOR: Gareth Bale!

And he scores!

The second-youngest player

ever to be picked for Southampton's first team.

But he wasn't simply a defender doing his best to hold off men

more than twice his age.

He was frightening the life out of people further up the pitch.

COMMENTATOR: Oh! What a strike and what a goal!

He was scoring goals and turning heads.

And he was getting stronger.

Players just wondered who this player was.

Previously, they'd been able to brush him off the ball.

Whereas now, all of a sudden,

all they could see was the number on his back.

COMMENTATOR: Bale is up for this one! And scores!

By the end of his first full season at Southampton,

Bale had made a name for himself.

He'd played more than 40 first-team games and scored five goals.

The country had taken notice.

But Bale would soon be exposed to an even wider audience

as another Cardiff man, John Toshack,

pulled Bale through the Wales ranks

and into his senior national team.

The manager was always very protective.

I remember Wales picking him for the full squad

and he was playing every game in the Championship.

And I wanted John Toshack to say,

"Let him settle down before pushing him straight in there."

But John pushed him straight in there and he coped with it all.

If we weren't thinking of using him at some stage,

we wouldn't have asked him to come back over.

He looks the part.

He's played the last few games at Southampton.

You can see he's, er...

..you know, he's well educated.

His habits are the right ones, the ones that we like.

True to his word, Toshack brought Bale off the bench

for a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago. Another milestone.

COMMENTATOR: Gareth Bale becomes Wales' youngest ever international.

16 years and 315 days.

Wales' celebrated wonderkid.

Bale had taken the record off another famous left-winger

who'd grown up just three miles across Cardiff from him, Ryan Giggs.

Comparisons with the Manchester United star would be inevitable.

COMMENTATOR: Good ball through from Bale here.

It might just have won the game!

Unfazed on the big stage, Bale had set up the winning goal.

"Gareth Bale, record breaker." How does that feel?

Obviously, it's good. I enjoyed every minute of the game.

I'm just happy to get on, really.

What has it been like the last few days with the senior squad?

Obviously, it's just a new experience for me.

And I just enjoy every minute of it.

Just being around all the big players and that, so it's good, yeah.

You've broken the Welsh record. Ryan Giggs held this record.

Just how does it make you feel?

I wasn't expecting all this this year, so, yeah, I'm proud

and my parents obviously are proud of me,

so I just want to build on from here now.

Please welcome the two teams for today's match...

Five months later, he made a stunning return to the Wales team.

This time, picked from the start

and a European qualifier against Slovakia -

an early demonstration of why his left boot

would become one of the most precious

and sought-after commodities in world football.

At 17, the youngest player to score for the full Wales team.

COMMENTATOR: It will be Bale!

Oh! What a way to get off the mark for Wales!

And the only thing worth remembering from a miserable 5-1 thrashing.

There was only a brief overlap

between the start of Bale's Wales career and the end of Giggs'.

So it was like the Changing of the Guard.

Out went one world-class superstar...

COMMENTATOR: Oh, stunning!

..in came another left-sided, leading man,

16 years younger than Giggs,

who could sprinkle the same kind of stardust

just by turning up for duty.

The goal against Slovakia underlined the suspicion -

Bale was destined for the highest level.

His CV was expanding as fast as his list of admirers.

But he was still only 17.

He was still a Southampton player...just.

He had so much ability and flare.

And something you don't see in many young players.

It was a case of wanting to hang on to him.

And I felt the longer we held on to him, the better we'd get.

Predictably, bigger clubs

were starting to show strong interest in Bale.

He was linked with Arsenal and Manchester United.

Initially, Southampton fought off attempts

to poach their prized asset.

But just as Spurs couldn't afford to turn down Madrid's millions,

and after a four-month standoff,

Southampton eventually accepted a £10 million offer from Spurs

for the Welshman.

Money talked. The player wanted to go.

We weren't going to let Gareth go for less.

He had fantastic ability

and he wasn't the finished article.

To think, in April 2006,

he makes his league debut in Southampton's first team.

To think, in May 2007, he signs for Tottenham.

You know, what a story that is.

Everyone knew he was the best attacking player

from that position of left-back in the country.

It wasn't difficult. It was just that Tottenham took the plunge.

And they were persuaded - the scout at the time, Eddie Presland,

he was the one that came back and said,

"Yes, we should take the chance."

It was big money for a young boy.

And Daniel Levy was brave enough

to open the purse and to take the plunge.

From debut to departure,

Southampton had barely got a year's service from Bale.

For the player, though, this was the Premier League.

A shot at the big time.

He could have gone to Manchester United,

but Spurs offered a more realistic hope

of regular first-team football.

Are you confident you've made the right decision in coming to White Hart Lane?

I'm confident I've made the right decision.

It's obviously a big club. Just a lot of potential.

And hopefully, we can fulfil that and hopefully I can be a part of it.

I think it was the best choice in the long run.

At least he's going to get some football here at a young age.

I think he's got the right choice there.

It is what dreams are made of, isn't it?

You know, actually playing here.

I know his ultimate goal was to play in the Premiership,

but we didn't think it would come this soon.

COMMENTATOR: Bale! Now, Berbatov must be offside in the middle!

Bale doesn't need it!

It wasn't quite a dream debut for Bale at Spurs,

but it was pretty close.

A week after his Premier League debut against Manchester United,

in only his second appearance, Bale got his first Tottenham goal.

COMMENTATOR: He's a real talent, this kid.

That's why Tottenham forked out the millions that they did.

Still an attacking fullback, now the Spurs fans

could really see what this kid from Cardiff was all about.

A superstar in the making.

But to his friends, he was just the same old Gareth.

Clean-living and dedicated to the game.

When he first signed for Tottenham, I'm a massive Spurs fan, I couldn't believe it.

It was crazy watching Sky Sports the first time he was on there

and he was playing for Tottenham.

When you look back now

and you look at what attributes you need to make the top,

physically, you know, mentally and your attitude, professionalism,

now it doesn't surprise me to see what he's doing.

You know, he doesn't drink alcohol or anything like that.

He's certainly not one that wants to make headlines

for any wrong reasons.

He purely lets his football do his talking for him.

COMMENTATOR: Away from Bale, who committed himself to that tackle

and will definitely get a card for lunging in.

And a red card!

After a promising start to his Spurs career,

everything that could go wrong

did go wrong for Bale at White Hart Lane.

Gareth Bale, who - I think - is a really good player,

has lost his way.

Ultimately, at that time, he was in and out the team

and whenever he played, they never won.

I think it was...I'm not sure of the figure,

but it was something like 24, 25 games,

around that amount of games,

when he'd never been on a winning team.

Poor Gareth Bale, who's equalled a Premier League record now -

21 games for Tottenham without a win.

His manager's looking at the team sheet

for next week and going, "Shall we play him?"

I remember Alex Ferguson saying to me at Old Trafford,

he said, "I wouldn't play him."

He said, "I'm superstitious."

He said, "I'd..."

And I'm superstitious as well and I'm thinking, "Well..."

But finally, I got him on into a game.

I think we were winning 3-0 or something.

I forget who it was against now,

but I brought him on, so that finished that episode.

COMMENTATOR: And here is a nice moment for Gareth Bale.

He's never appeared on a winning team for Spurs in the Premier League

and that run will come to an end at the 25th attempt.

In a difficult season, there was even talk Bale would be loaned out

or sold for a fraction of what Spurs paid for him.

I heard rumours about loaning him out or something

to Notts Forest or something.

Never, ever was it going to happen.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that there were lots of spells

where he'd get a little knock in training, he'd limp off,

the physios would run on to him and fuss over him too much,

you know?

In the end, I said, "Look, just leave him. He'll get up on his own."

And, um...and he did.

And he's just gone on from there.

I was still a young boy at the time

and there was obviously certain aspects I needed to improve

and I worked hard in training and proved to him

that I was worthy of a spot on the team.

And when I did that, he gave me my chance.

COMMENTATOR: Bale shoots! He's got it! I don't believe it!

Bale! He's done it again!

Redknapp brought Bale back into the team.

This time, further up the field.

And it proved to be the making of him -

the transformation of Bale into a superstar.

Once he'd become established in the team, he never looked back.

And then he was able to produce the performances

that I think everybody thought he was capable of.

He did it on a regular basis.

He was pleasing the crowds and the prizes started to follow.

The PFA Players' Player of the Year, Gareth Bale.

APPLAUSE

If there was a pinnacle to all of it,

perhaps it came at a Champions League game in Italy.

A hat-trick against the mighty Inter Milan.

The night Bale made some of European football's top stars

look like schoolboys.

It was that "wow" moment where everyone said,

"Where's this kid come from?"

I think he announced himself to the world.

The world stage saw what potential he had.

I gave him three days off, four days off last week,

because I felt he needed a break

because he'd been playing so well and working so hard.

I said, "Go abroad for a few days."

-And he did. He went to Cardiff.

-LAUGHTER

And, um...stayed at his mum's.

And that's what he's like, you know? he's just a great lad, you know?

COMMENTATOR: Bale shoots! Oh, what a goal!

Bale!

The only thing that might have eclipsed his performances for Spurs,

his performances for his country.

COMMENTATOR: Wales are right back on the World Cup trail,

thanks to their man in a million, Gareth Bale!

Oh! Stunning! Just magic!

Wales is a very important part of his life and his career.

But he's a lovely lad.

He likes having a laugh and a joke around the rest of his team-mates.

Doesn't expect any preferential treatment

because he's very, very down to earth.

He's collected goals from every angle, every distance.

There were 42 for Spurs, 11 so far for Wales.

All he's missing, they say, is the ego to match.

Grounded, professional

and now combining fatherhood with football fame.

If he keeps improving, who knows where he can get to?

You know, it's just wonderful, his acceleration, his rise

in the last, I would say, three seasons.

Particularly the last two seasons.

And then last year was absolutely incredible.

Now, can he repeat that?

If he can, absolutely, the sky is the limit.

Rumours Real Madrid had made Bale their number-one transfer target

stretched back months into last season.

Clubs and agents haggling over his price

was music to the ears of the marketing men.

A footballer of rising stature

who could help them sell game consoles,

energy drinks, football boots.

Perhaps you really know you've made it as a sportsperson

when you're the cover star on glossy magazines like Esquire -

normally the preserve of showbiz royalty,

like Daniel Craig, David Bowie, Robbie Williams,

but never a Welsh footballer.

When people started talking about him going to Real Madrid,

I think it became obvious to us that he was a genuine star.

He definitely made that breakthrough into wider consciousness.

He was doing commercial endorsement deals,

he was being talked about on the front page

rather than just the back page

and it was all for his exploits on the field.

He is a fantastic role model,

a family man who conducts himself in the right way.

And now he's propelled into the stratosphere

of being one of the best players in the world.

So his earning potential is...

There is no ceiling.

There are loads of famous footballers.

That's not enough to guarantee you a career outside football.

There is something about him.

There's some sort of sparkle of some sort that people find appealing.

When Real Madrid or a team like that spends that much money on someone,

they're not just buying that person to play,

they're also investing in an image that will sell Madrid as a brand

to Asia and Africa and all around the world.

And that's why they make these calculations.

The question is whether, commercially,

Bale follows the Beckham path.

Does he put his name to brands,

or does he become a brand in his own right, as Beckham did?

I think this young man will be more focused around football.

Once people start buying his shirt wherever he's playing

and they start following him,

he'll get invited to go to Asia, Australasia, America

and then the young man from Wales can do anything he wants to do.

HE SPEAKS SPANISH

The world was watching as Bale got what he had wanted.

The move from London to Madrid -

fulfilling a childhood dream

of playing for one of the world's greatest clubs.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

And once it was clear he was going,

the story moved on to the size of the transfer fee.

And the question of how any footballer could be worth wages

of £300,000 a week.

In my experience with Cristiano Ronaldo,

I paid £80 million at that time.

And a lot of people said I was mad.

You have to wait for the results.

At that moment, we couldn't say

if it is worth to pay that amount of money or not.

A fine life awaits Bale and his young family -

the glamour, the glitz of a modern European city,

but when he's at work, how will he settle into

a dressing room full of egos?

How will he blend in next to the man he's called The Boss,

Cristiano Ronaldo?

The only question mark now, of course,

is whether he's got the mental strength

to be able to cope with such a big move

and the spotlight that will be immense on him over there in Spain.

Because it is different. It's huge.

And it's whether he can cope with that.

Ability-wise, he is phenomenal.

The media, they'll go straight for him.

They're paying a lot of money. They want instant success.

I went to Italy, it took me two, three games to get going,

but the media won't give him that chance.

So in some point, it can be a burden and a problem

to know that he's a new Galactico,

in that word that someone used,

and also that the club paid such a huge amount of money.

It's one of them things, I just want to get started

and want to show to everybody at Real Madrid,

the fans and everybody else, what I can do.

And I don't think there's any more pressure put on me

than I put on myself.

So I'll be going out there knowing what I have to do

and hopefully I can continue the form from last season

and get even better.

Gracias por esta gran acogida.

Hala Madrid!

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Bale's not the first Welshman to be tempted abroad.

In 1957, the Wales legend John Charles

blazed a trail to Juventus for £65,000 -

then a record transfer fee for a British player.

His success in Europe was never really matched

by the likes of Ian Rush, who also signed for the Italian club,

or Mark Hughes at Barcelona.

So what's their advice for Bale?

When I went out there, I was a young man in terms of being able

to deal with moving to a new country,

a new type of football.

And he needs to be comfortable that he can deal with that.

But in his brain, it's going to be,

"I do miss my family. I do miss my friends."

You can easily pick, when you go abroad,

there's a lot of false friends that want to be your friends.

So they are the pitfalls which he needs to suss out, really.

And, er...if he can do that...

Because I'm telling you one thing, I'm 100% certain,

if you're not happy off the pitch,

you will not produce your best football on the pitch.

I think if you look back

at all the English or British players, if you like,

that have been successful going abroad,

it's really the ones that have just got themselves into the culture,

learnt the language and made part of life there enjoyable.

When I went out there, I was thinking in the back of my mind,

"Give it two years, I'll be home."

-Was that what you thought?

-Yeah. It's the wrong way to go about it.

You've got to go there with the intention

of staying there for as long as you can.

The Spaniards are going to receive him with open arms.

With...I insist trying to help him to enjoy life here

and to be integrated in the team as soon as possible.

It's a new chapter in my life.

I think it's definitely important

to learn the language, learn the culture.

I think it will be exciting for me to do that.

I think it'll make me grow up as a person, become a better person.

Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to the challenge.

And hopefully, settling down as quick as I can.

From the parks' pitches of Cardiff

to a cathedral of football,

where men are idolised or demonised.

It's a whole new ball game for El Gales, the Welshman,

the most expensive footballer who's ever lived.

He'll be fine. Of course, all the razzmatazz that comes with playing

for a club like Real Madrid, um...he'll be able to cope with that

because he's a quiet boy. He doesn't get carried away.

He's got the platform.

He's got the stage.

I think he can take it on board and, er...you know,

become probably the greatest Welsh player.

John Charles was my hero.

Maybe Gareth Bale will be the hero of the next generation.

Good players and very good players, as he is,

can play anywhere, in any team,

with any system, with any strategy.

So I don't see any problem that he's going to be OK in the club.

And I hope that Real Madrid

can get, with him, a lot of success and many titles.

That's what all the followers and fans of Real Madrid are looking for.

Challenges that I've seen him face,

you know, during his schoolboy years,

when he went to Tottenham,

you know, I have no doubt whatsoever

that he'll continue to have fantastic support

from his parents, from his family,

and, listen, I think he'll be a revelation.

I really do.

And I'm absolutely thrilled that he's a Welshman.

That's where I take the pride from. He's a Welshman.

It's a good time for Welsh football, that's for sure.

Two teams in the Premier League, Gareth Bale,

lots of good players coming through.

The rugby boys had better watch out.