Was it really that much of a shock for Gareth Bale to move on to bigger and better things after the blockbuster season he had just had for Spurs, that had yielded no Champions League football yet again? Probably not, but if one were to look at the bigger picture - here was a boy who only four years previously had been regarded as a curse at White Hart Lane, with attempts made to ship him to Nottingham Forest and Hamburg for a cut-price fee. Now, he had just eclipsed Cristiano Ronaldo as the worlds most expensive footballer of all time. It seems almost like a cheat move to throw a long-running transfer saga into a list like this, with the nature of the Welshmans transfer having rumbled on for weeks, but when stepping back to analyse the full picture, his £85 million move to the Santiago Bernabeu was still quite a jaw-dropping event as far as transfers go.
''I know many players talk of their desire to join the club of their boyhood dreams, but I can honestly say, this is my dream come true. Tottenham will always be in my heart and Im sure this season will be a successful one for them. I am now looking forward to the next exciting chapter in my life, playing football for Real Madrid. - Gareth Bale, September 2013.
Within nine months, the Welshman would have scored in his first ever Champions League final, as the Galacticos claimed La Decima - their first European Cup in 12 years.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
