Gareth Bale is widely regarded as one of the best players to ever grace the Premier League.
The Welshman made defenders look silly during the latter stages of his time at Tottenham – scoring 21 goals in 33 Premier League appearances during the 2012/13 campaign to earn an £85m move to Real Madrid.
Prior to that season, the man from Cardiff had also scored a UEFA Champions League hat-trick against Inter Milan in 2010 to truly announce himself on the global stage.
Before all of this – however – Gareth Bale was actually a much maligned figure at Tottenham, with one remark by Sir Alex Ferguson leaving Harry Redknapp puzzled.
Why Sir Alex Ferguson once told Harry Redknapp he wouldn’t select Gareth Bale
Manchester United actually tried to sign Bale while David Moyes was at the helm, but Ferguson wouldn’t have gone anywhere near the speedy winger once upon a time.
Following a £5m move from Southampton to Spurs in May 2007, Bale endured a dreadfully unfortunate run, in which Tottenham failed to win any of the first 24 games he featured in.
Writing a column for the Telegraph back in June 2016, Redknapp revealed that Ferguson actually suggested he wouldn’t put the forward on the pitch for Manchester United, had this streak of bad luck occurred at Old Trafford instead of N17.
The man from Poplar said: “Gareth had that horrendous statistic hanging round his neck of not winning a game, which ultimately stretched to 24 games, when we went to play Manchester United at Old Trafford.
“After the game, Alex said to me, bloody hell, Harry, it must be difficult for you to put him on the field. Alex was big on superstitions and I am still not sure to this day whether he was joking or not, but it was clearly a huge topic.
“It was not a nice thing for Gareth to deal with and it must have affected him. Whether he started the game or came off the bench, Spurs did not win, and it became a bit of a joke outside the club – and inside the dressing room as well. Gareth just got on with it. Eventually, we won a game with him in the team, beating Burnley 5-0, and he never looked back.”
What Gareth Bale could boast upon retirement after cursed start to life at Tottenham
Redknapp says Bale “never looked back” after shaking off this curse – which is spot on.
Upon retiring from football in January 2023, the Southampton academy graduate hung up his boots with three La Liga titles, five UEFA Champions League successes, two UEFA Super Cups, three FIFA Club World Cups, as well as one each of the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana.