After nine seasons at Real Madrid, Gareth Bale, 32, will leave the club this summer when his contract expires on June 30 and he has decided on a new destination.
On June 27, MLS club LAFC officially announced that it has signed the Wales international on a one-year deal until June 2023 with a club option for a further year (until June 2024, when Bale turns 35). . Two days earlier, Bale himself confirmed the move on his social media after several reports surfaced.
espn’s taylor twellman reported that bale would make his mls debut on july 8 in a derby against the galaxy. The club based in the is the best team in the MLS and recently brought in former Italian international Giorgio Chiellini, who will bow to him in the MLS on the same day.
Bale joined Real Madrid from Tottenham in 2013 for a whopping $111 million transfer fee, and would go on to win five illustrious Champions League titles with the club. he played 238 games for the Spanish team, scoring 106 goals and assisting another 67.
See you soon, Los Angeles. 👊 @lafc @lafc3252 pic.twitter.com/gvp8wvwlpe
He had multiple memorable moments in the Champions League final with Madrid, including the winner in extra time in the 2014 final against Juventus, and a pair of goals, including his famous Chilean, in the final of 2018 against liverpool.
Unfortunately, his final years with the Spanish giants turned sour, thanks to a series of injuries as well as a drop in form that led fans to blame Bale’s struggles on his off-field interests, including the golf.
Bale played just 21 league games during his last two seasons in Spain, with a year on loan at Tottenham in between. he became the scapegoat for the team’s losing streaks, and his love of golf was vilified by fans and the media.
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why did gareth bale sign with lafc?
The LAFC season schedule (February to November) aligns well with Bale’s focus on the 2022 World Cup. The 34-game regular season ends October 1. 9 and the mls cup title match will be played on November 11. 5 if lafc goes that far. That gives Bale a full two weeks to prepare for the opening World Cup match against the United States on November 3. 21.
that’s a full week more than i would have had at a european club, and potentially more if lafc doesn’t make it to the mls cup final. The European leagues will play their last weekend of matches before the World Cup break on November 1. 12-13.
Furthermore, had Bale signed for a European-based team, he also would not have been able to start serious competitive action until early August, missing a full month to improve match fitness. He is expected to make his debut with LaFC on July 8.
Initial speculation was that World Cup qualification would lead to Bale signing a short-term deal with his hometown club, Cardiff City, in preparation for Qatar 2022 in November. and some surmised that if he didn’t qualify for the world cup, he would possibly retire from the game at the age of 32.
however, after helping wales qualify for the world cup, bale hopes to continue making history in qatar. wales are installed as the slight favorite to leave group b along with england. But they are also listed as slight underdogs for the opening group match against the USA. uu. on November 11. 21. Only the top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 16.
🗣 “it’s what dreams are made of” gareth bale reacts to a historic night for wales 👇pic.twitter.com/9orfhe7u7m
gareth bale contract details with lafc
lafc news came as a complete surprise since months before it was a.d. attached that it was connected to the wales star.
espn soccer analyst taylor twellman later reported that david beckham’s club, miami inter, had tried to acquire the star. in fact, lafc had to compensate inter miami for the possibility of signing bale.
“they [lafc] had to change something to inter miami [to compensate them] because miami was initially in talks with gareth bale, but that didn’t work out,” twellman said at halftime of a June 25 broadcast of mls . “gareth bale wanted to go to the.”
what’s interesting about bale’s deal with lafc is the way the contract seems to be structured.
mls clubs can have up to three players on a team who can be paid above the salary budget defined by the league each year, which is the same for all clubs. But like Chiellini, Bale will not fill one of the three “designated player” slots in 2022. Instead, his contract will be paid for with Specific Allocation Money (TAM), which are additional funds provided to MLS clubs that can apply to select player salaries to stay within the defined budget.
mls salary structure differs from many leagues around the world, where clubs may spend more than others in their league (although there are caps in those leagues based on a percentage of revenue generated), which a often leads to a competitive imbalance.
news and rumors about the transfer of gareth bale
there were several clubs that emerged as possible destinations before bale decided on lafc.
From Spain, to Wales, England and the United States, this is the list of teams that were linked to the player.
getafe
there was talk that bale was preparing for a sensational stay in madrid next season after being linked with a short-term contract at getafe. The president of the club, Ángel Torres, stated that they were in the race for the Welshman.
💥💥💥💥💥Ángel Torres “45 minutes ago he spoke with Gareth Bale’s representative. they have offered it to us. We have to study it with the coaching staff and the Getafe sports management.” pic.twitter.com/jnpckk88rf
Torres confirmed that Bale’s representatives had contacted him about a possible deal with the 32-year-old and that he was evaluating his next move.
“forty-five minutes ago i spoke with gareth bale’s agent. they have offered it to us. We have to analyze it with the coaching staff (coach) and the Getafe management.
💥💥 more from Ángel torres on gareth bale “this morning he spoke with his representative and he explained to me that it was possible to do it. The boy wants to stay in Madrid and play in the World Cup. I have to give him a ride and talk to the coach. it depends 50% on bale and 50% on me” pic.twitter.com/sz1eottagh
“his agent explained that it was possible to achieve it. he wants to stay in madrid [getafe cf is based in madrid] and play in the world cup. i have to think about it a bit and talk to the coach. it depends 50 per cent percent bale and 50 percent me.”
cardiff city
talk of a possible deal with his hometown club cardiff city, who finished 18th in the championship in 2021-22, was prompted by comments from his wales manager robert page, who said that “it makes sense” for the club to be an option.
“Anyway, he would definitely make the world cup team. As long as he plays football, that’s the most important thing for us,” page told the media.
The push to join the Bluebirds only grew after Bale’s agent said “Cardiff has a lot of upside.” Welsh legend Ian Rush backed the proposed move to Cardiff City.
after nine years in madrid, a return to the city where he grew up and where he still has family might have made sense from a personal point of view.
tottenham hotspur (first league)
Besides first division clubs newcastle united and southampton, the other first division club constantly mentioned in relation to gareth bale was his former club tottenham, which would also have made sense given the history between the two.
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Bale not only played for Spurs from 2007 to 2013, where he rose to Premier League fame, but also spent the 2020-21 season on loan in London.
Still, there is little else to connect the two besides past history. Spanish signing publication reported on 25 May that Spurs boss Antonio Conte requested that the club sign Bale, but otherwise all talk has been pure speculation with few actual reports of serious talks. /p>
cc united (mls)
The Washington Post reporter, Steven Goff, stated in April 2022 that Bale’s representatives had been in contact with the MLS Club D.C. United, but that the negotiations at that time were still far from seeing Bale close to moving to the US. uu.
c.c. United in talks with Gareth Bale’s representatives about moving to MLS, they told me. (in fact, they talked months ago, but they didn’t go anywhere). the sides exchange proposals, but it is not clear if it will be accelerated. dcu prepared to pay more than wayne rooney in 2018. bale is leaving real madrid.
gareth bale’s contract with real madrid
In 2017, Gareth Bale signed a new five-year contract with Real Madrid that lasted until the summer of 2022.
That contract ended on June 30, 2022 and the transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, reported at the end of March 2022 that Bale would leave Real Madrid. That projection was confirmed by the Welsh international on June 1 when he shared a farewell letter with the Real Madrid faithful:
It has been an honour. Thank you! #halamadrid @realmadridpic.twitter.com/t7fl2lnrrd
bale’s agent, jonathan barnett, stated on multiple occasions that he would leave real madrid at the end of the 2021/22 season, and that his future would depend, at least in part, on whether wales qualify for the world cup 2022. They hosted and beat Ukraine 1-0 to clinch the ticket to Qatar 2022.
🤍 #halamadrid pic.twitter.com/pogmmcldwk
gareth bale statistics with real madrid
gareth bale trophies won at real madrid
After moving to Real Madrid from Tottenham, Gareth Bale collected a wide variety of club trophies and awards.
He won the Spanish top flight three times and the Champions League five times, as well as a national cup.
- the league (3): 2016-17, 2019-20, 2021-22
- uefa champions league (5): 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2021-22
- king’s cup (1): 2013-14
- fifa club world cup (3): 2014, 2017, 2018
- Spanish Super Cup (1): 2017
- uefa super cup (3): 2014, 2016, 2017
- fifa club world cup golden ball (1): 2018
- uefa champions league team of the season (1): 2015-16