The football era of Gareth Bale in Europe will be halted in the 2022-2023 season as the 32-year-old right-winger agreed on a one-year deal with Major League Soccer (MLS) club Los Angeles FC.
Gareth Bale’s last three seasons at Real Madrid were rough for him as he struggled to maintain his form and fitness level. Hence, he also struggled to enjoy regular game time at the Spanish giants.
Things got so bad that he had to spend the 2020-2021 season at his former club, Tottenham Hotspur, on loan before he returned to Spain to complete his lucrative contract with Real Madrid.
Bale returned to Real Madrid with the hope that he could re-establish himself under coach Carlo Ancelotti. Unfortunately for him, he could not play regularly which made it clearer that his contract would not be extended when it expires on June 30, 2022.
Even before the 2021-2022 season expired, coach Ancelotti announced that Bale would leave the club this summer and was given a farewell party during the club’s UEFA Champions League and La Liga victory parade.
Since then, the question was, “where is the next destination for Gareth Bale?” Before now, Cardiff City tried to lure the Walsh football icon to their club this summer. When it was looking like Bale would sign for Cardiff ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the outgoing Real Madrid winger signed with Los Angeles FC on a free transfer.
To confirm that he has sealed his move to MLS, Gareth Bale took to social media to share a video which he captioned “See you soon, Los Angeles”.
In the video, Gareth Bale wore a Los Angeles hat and kit which is the same video LAFC used to announce the signing of the Wales international via the club’s social media pages.
This means that Bale will lead Wales to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar from November as a player of Los Angeles FC.
What are the stats of Gareth Bale and their achievements in Europe?
Gareth Bale made his international debut on May 27, 2006. Between 2006 and 2022, Bale scored 38 goals in 105 international appearances.
He helped the country to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and play two successive European Championships.
At the club level, Bale scored a total of 183 goals and provided 139 assists in 540 games in all competitions for Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Real Madrid.
While at Real Madrid, Bale won five UEFA Champions League, four FIFA Club World Cups, three La Liga titles, three UEFA Super Cups, and three Spanish Super Cups. He also won one league cup at Tottenham Hotspur.
On an individual level, Gareth Bale has won 6 Wales player of the year, Tottenham Hotspur player of the year, and finished as the highest goalscorer in the 2017/2018 FIFA Club World Cup.
