Eye on La Liga: Gareth Bale’s star has continued to rise at Real Madrid

It’s hard to believe that Gareth Bale almost signed for Birmingham just over five years ago for £3 million (Dh16.7 million)

Out of form and out of the Tottenham team, the Welshman had endured a horrific first couple of seasons at White Hart Lane.

However, in between the first musings on the potential transfer (October 2009) and the opening of the January transfer window, Birmingham went on a superb unbeaten run that convinced Alex McLeish to spend his money on other areas of the squad.

Just a season later in 2010, a virtuoso performance for Spurs in the Champions League group stages against defending champions Inter Milan really brought Bale’s skill set to the fore.

It’s not as if it was an unknown commodity beforehand, mind you, his pace and power on the ball had been noted since his Southampton days. But the footballing public had never really enjoyed seeing Bale at full tilt until that night in the San Siro.

It was a performance that seemed to cast off the shackles, Bale becoming Spurs’ most important player over the next couple of seasons.

With the greatest of respect to Tottenham, once supposed bigger clubs came calling, it was just a matter of time before the Welshman looked to take his career to the next level.

But even he must have shaken his head in disbelief when Daniel Levy slapped a £100 million price tag on his head. Conflicting reports as to a final transfer fee to Real Madrid are somewhat irrelevant. His eventual purchase was a new world record.

And here we are just 18 months after Bale pitched up in the Spanish capital eulogising on whether Florentino Perez might just have got himself a bargain.

Bale’s star continued to rise throughout a supersonic 2014. An integral part of the ‘BBC’ — Bale, Benzema and Cristiano, Los Blancos’ best attacking triumvirate for years — he has by turn been provider and poacher.

His outstanding winning goal in last season’s Copa del Rey “Clasico” final was followed up by the decisive second in the Champions League final, and the second goal in last month’s Club World Cup final took the game away from San Lorenzo.

Three important strikes that have, in many respects, pushed the debate about transfer spend to one side.

Hard-working

Yet Bale is about much more than three goals. His contribution for the all whites since the very first moment of joining has been top class.

Professional, hard-working and decisive, the biggest compliment one can pay is that he has never looked out of place alongside Cristiano Ronaldo or Karim Benzema.

The mischief-makers suggesting that he might like to return to the Premier League and become a marquee signing for Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United are deluded at best.

In Carlo Ancelotti’s ripsnorting, counter-attacking Usain Bolt-esque juggernaut, roadrunner Bale is worth his weight in gold.

What exactly do that once-proud Mancunian establishment offer Bale to tempt him from the football utopia he currently thrives within?

Should Real go on and become the first team in the modern era to retain the Champions League, Bale’s place in the annals of football history will be assured.

And Birmingham City will be kicking themselves at what might have been.

— The writer is a freelance journalist and Spanish football expert