Southampton: 5 Greatest Youth Graduates

5. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)

It seems sensible to start this list off with the world's most expensive player. Gareth Bale signed for Real Madrid from Spurs for £85.3 million this summer with a reported weekly wage of £300,000 per week. Now it would be a matter of serious debate to think about who deserves most credit for making Bale the player he is today. Spurs would obviously claim that they were really the ones that developed the player since he was still very raw as a Southampton player. But let's not forget that it was the Southampton youth coaches that spotted him in the first place, and they were the ones that got him ready to play regular first team football. Although, Bale is a winger or full back by trade he has really become more of a goalscorer than provider of goals. Who Scored data shows that he scored 21 goals in the Premier League last season; it was a tally that was only bettered by Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie. The Welsh wizard made a slow start to life in Spain but he has now managed to score seven times in the league while also contributing six assists. Real Madrid fans will be hoping he can continue to make a challenge to be the best player in the world.