Gareth Bale

Former Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale is set to sign for MLS side Los Angeles FC; he is looking to maintain his fitness ahead of Wales appearance at the ...

Together we were able to create some moments that will live forever in the history of this club and football. "The MLS is going to love having him. He needs to be playing for the World Cup in a few months and also it's in season. He's going to find it a challenge, it's not going to be easy for him because it's a fast, end-to-end league and you've got to be fit. "Every location he's going to go to, it's going to be competitive. Knowing him and having played with him, understanding his mentality, I think he's going to love it.

Welsh soccer star Gareth Bale will be joining LAFC on a one-year deal after his current contract with Real Madrid expires later this month.

“In the end this is a business. The signing of Bale is one of the most significant in LAFC’s short history. Vela, who scored 34 times in leading LAFC to a Supporters’ Shield in 2019, was the most expensive player in MLS last season with a salary of $6.5 million. The Welsh captain played a career-low seven games for Real Madrid last season and a repeat of that would have left him unfit. A more likely target for his debut would be July 8, when LAFC plays host to the Galaxy. That comes just days before the team is expected to announce a contract extension for captain Carlos Vela, a former league MVP.

In other elite-player news, Paris Saint-Germain seems prepared to keep Neymar by offering the world's most expensive transfer a lucrative contract extension, as ...

Next season, the 30-year-old is no more likely to take PSG to the next level than he was earlier in his career. Betting too much on one player has been a problem, and the same approach has also put unnecessary pressure on him at World Cups, which hasn’t worked out. What’s also crazy is how Real has gone on to win more trophies with him on the sidelines, a peripheral figure to whom they can still afford to pay high wages. As Diario AS wrote earlier this month, a curse (Spanish) seems to have fallen over the majority of signings costing over €100 million ($106 million), of which there have been 12 so far. Combined, Real and PSG have spent well over €300 million ($317 million) in upfront fees for the players mentioned, plus much more in wages. Yet, with discontent never far away from both players, they each represent the same curious reality within super clubs today, which has been growing in relevance for a while—that money is virtually boundless, and what it brings is never enough.

LAFC is close to a deal to bring Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale to Major League Soccer, sources have told ESPN.

In 2019, Bale was on the verge of joining Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning, but the move broke down in the final stages after his agent, Jonathan Barnett, said Madrid changed their mind. In eight seasons with Real Madrid, Bale was part of five Champions League-winning sides and won LaLiga on three occasions. He was whistled by fans at the Bernabeu after he had been pictured with a banner that read: "Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that Order" while celebrating with international teammates in November 2019. Bale scored twice in the 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool, including a spectacular overhead kick, but by that time his injury problems had become more frequent and his relationship with then-manager Zinedine Zidane had begun to suffer. He was initially a key member of the team, scoring in their Champions League and Copa del Rey final wins in his first season and forming a formidable front three alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Sources told ESPN that Bale will fly out at the end of the week after a short break and sign a deal until the end of this season with the option of another year.

Gareth Bale has sealed a shock switch to MLS Side LAFC following his release from Real Madrid at the end of the season.

The MLS season fits in well with Bale’s World Cup plans, as the regular season runs until October - with the championship match at the end of the play-offs due to take place on November 5. He said on international duty early in June that his desire was to secure regular playing time to get match sharp - with his focus being on the World Cup with Wales in Qatar in November and December. The Wales international became available on a free transfer following his release from Real Madrid, and had a number of options.

Between the group, they boast five Champions League titles, three La Liga trophies, two Olympic medals, two Six Nations championships, and a yellow jersey. In ...

He also had a poor relationship with Madrid-based Spanish newspaper, Marca. The Athletic’s Dermot Corrigan detailed the entire saga in March of this year. He was almost sold after a disappointing debut season, with Birmingham City interested in signing Bale for £3 million, and former Spurs manager Martin Jol turning down the chance to take him to Hamburg. It makes the award look a little diminished, although it was obviously a great goal by Salah.” Is that a four iron? That was the way I was brought up, passing the ball. Is that a sand wedge? But Bale’s was a little more significant (with apologies to Lee Redmond, whose fingernails are an impressive 28 cumulative feet). Quite the haul, considering he began life as a left-back who specialised in free-kicks. Bale told FourFourTwo: “Yeah, I was surprised by that, to be honest. Goals against England. A World Cup berth. He also ran an 11.4-second 100m at the age of only 14. A European Championship semi-final.

The five-time Champions League winner is soon to be a free agent and is looking for a new club ahead of playing for Wales at the World Cup in Qatar, which ...

Welsh Winger Gareth Bale is signing a contract with LAFC after he wraps up his time with Real Madrid this summer, reports say.

The 32-year-old winger started his run with Tottenham and then joined Real Madrid in 2013. He has won five Champions Leagues, four Club World Cups, three La Liga titles and three Spanish Cups during his career in Spain. He is known as one of the greatest wingers of his generation, as well as one of the best Welsh players of all time. Bale currently plays for the La Liga club Real Madrid and for Wales’ national team.

The future of Wales forward Gareth Bale is in MLS with LAFC. Here's how social media reacted to the shock news.

This assist from prime Real Madrid Bale 🔥🔥— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) pic.twitter.com/IUMB7Ds1a8 June 25, 2022 😉😉😉— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) pic.twitter.com/cCmDtoSMho June 25, 2022 The real reason Bale signed for LAFC— El Moon Doughh (@moon_doughh) pic.twitter.com/Uc3h7SA6Ar June 25, 2022 Gareth Bale said this in 2020 👀— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) pic.twitter.com/xjMnxi6FAl June 25, 2022 Wales. Golf. LAFC.— Chris (@_el_chris) #LAFC #Bale pic.twitter.com/0ZGuvhMSqj June 25, 2022 Gareth Bale in his new LAFC threads 🤩— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) pic.twitter.com/Zx5YqWC3ny June 25, 2022 But now he's on his way to Major League Soccer... with LAFC! to win the final!— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) All in MLS. ⭐️ 🌟 pic.twitter.com/EiLhntosfG June 25, 2022 See you soon, Los Angeles. 👊— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) @LAFC @LAFC3252 pic.twitter.com/GVP8WVWLPe June 25, 2022 Life is good for LAFC 😎 pic.twitter.com/46FVtxTUUY June 25, 2022 Gareth Bale 🏴— Tom Bogert (@tombogert)

Bale, who helped Wales qualify for the World Cup, will prepare for the tournament in the United States. An announcement is expected Sunday.

While a return to Wales would have been a popular and symbolic — Bale was born in Cardiff — his choice of Los Angeles may better suit his World Cup preparations. Once his signing with M.L.S. becomes official, Bale could be positioned to make his debut for his new team against the crosstown Los Angeles Galaxy on July 8. With his Real Madrid contract expiring this summer, Bale announced his intent to leave Spain and has been available to any team as a free transfer. Adding Bale and the veteran Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini — whose introduction is set for next week — to a team that already features the Mexican star Carlos Vela could make L.A.F.C. an M.L.S. Cup favorite this fall. The United States. Its opponent that day? L.A.F.C. teased an international signing on its social media accounts on Saturday but did not reveal the player. That derby, known as El Tráfico in a wink at the city’s perpetual headache, has been home to major moments in the past: In 2018, the Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic entered the game, his first in M.L.S., and scored one of the most famous goals in league history. Bale had flirted with a move to Cardiff City in his hometown in recent weeks before choosing M.L.S., and Los Angeles, when it came time to put pen to paper. The answer arrived Saturday: After running out his contract with Real Madrid and flirting with a return to his hometown, Bale, 32, has agreed to join Los Angeles F.C. in Major League Soccer in a move that will offer him regular playing time, plenty of sunshine and as many as five consecutive months of matches to sharpen his form before the World Cup kicks off in Qatar in late November. Ever since Gareth Bale helped ensure that Wales would play in the World Cup for the first time since 1958, there has been only one question on the minds of his countrymen: For which club would he sign, and play, to prepare for the tournament? An M.L.S. official familiar with Bale’s decision to join the league, though, confirmed that an official announcement of his signing was imminent, perhaps as soon as Sunday.

Major League Soccer (MLS) is set to welcome another world-renowned soccer star after Wales captain Gareth Bale agreed to a one-year deal with Los Angeles FC ...

Chiellini forged his name as one of the best center-backs in the game during a decorated 18-year spell with Juventus, lifting nine Serie A titles and five Coppa Italia trophies. The pair's arrival continues the trend of some of the game's biggest names joining the MLS in the twilight years of their careers. The six-time winner of the Welsh Footballer of the Year award arrives in LA having helped guide his country to their first FIFA World Cup finals in 64 years earlier this month.

LAFC is close to a deal to bring Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale to Major League Soccer, sources have told ESPN.

But we are very excited at the options we have to improve our team as we pursue our goal of ultimately winning a championship this season." "We are charting course in that direction," Thorrington said of signing another DP. "I would say if the right opportunity comes, we are ready to make that decision. This team wants to win," Thorrington said. In eight seasons with Real Madrid, Bale was part of five Champions League-winning sides and won LaLiga on three occasions. "I want to win. "We have had very detailed conversations with Gareth about what he needs to be successful.

Former Tottenham and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale is set to join Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer, and he won't be the only former Premier League ...

The Swiss international scored his first MLS goal from the penalty spot back in March, and has since added two more. Guzan racked up more than 150 Premier League appearances, the bulk of them for Aston Villa, after moving to England in 2008. However, 17 goals in the 2021 season was almost enough to drag his team into the playoffs. Vela won the MLS Supporters' Shield with LAFC in 2019, before reaching the final of the CONCACAF Champions League the following year. Vela began his professional career with Arsenal, but left the club in 2012 after failing to hold down a regular starting spot. Here, Mirror Football looks at some of the other one-time Premier League players currently plying their trade in the US and Canada with Bale set to join them over the summer.

Los Angeles FC are hoping their signing of Gareth Bale will prove a “long-term partnership”

The first game he would be potentially available for would be the game we have here on July 8.” Our window opens in early July and that will be the first time we can register him. Obviously we expect him to be a top, top player for us and in this league, but we will do so sensibly.

LAFC is close to a deal to bring Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale to Major League Soccer, sources have told ESPN.

"I think when Gareth is looking at what he needs to do, his priority will be at LAFC. But we're not naive to the fact that he, like some other players of ours, have a World Cup on the horizon. "The benefit of him joining a group like we already have is we'll play him as much as we can. But we are very excited at the options we have to improve our team as we pursue our goal of ultimately winning a championship this season." "We are charting course in that direction," Thorrington said of signing another DP. "I would say if the right opportunity comes, we are ready to make that decision. This team wants to win," Thorrington said. "We have had very detailed conversations with Gareth about what he needs to be successful.

The Welsh superstar was announced as a signing by the LAFC Co-President and GM, John Thorrington, on Sunday June 26th. Signed on a free transfer and to a TAM ...

“We’re incredibly excited in the face of very stiff competition worldwide, that he agreed [to sign for LAFC] and we’re excited to welcome him in the coming weeks.” Of course, some similar things were said about Carlos Vela at times in Spain before he lit up MLS, so some of the negativity around Bale may be quite unfair. This year, he has led them to qualification to the 2022 World Cup, Wales’ first World Cup berth since 1958. He turned pro and made his debut with English club Southampton in 2006, remarkably starting his career as a left back with Saints and then when he first moved to Tottenham in 2007. In 2020-21, he went on a season-long loan to Spurs, and returned to Real Madrid this past season, where he barely featured, his relationship with the club fractured permanently. The Welsh superstar was announced as a signing by the LAFC Co-President and GM, John Thorrington, on Sunday June 26th.

Focusing on the friction between Bale and Real Madrid is a disservice to one of the greatest British players of his generation.

Maybe that is a transactional view but given that Bale scored three goals in Champions League finals, he did hold up his side of the deal. Bale was within his rights not to walk out on that money and none of his team-mates played for free, either. But there seems to be something else on the other side of the scale here. Maybe he has just moved to the margins of our football consciousness. Maybe that will change in time when we get enough distance from his achievements to see them in perspective. Bale helped to get them there, the club finishing fourth in 2009-10, at the time their best league campaign since the 1980s. By these two measures alone, Bale should surely be considered as one of the greatest British players of his generation. Put these two elements together — the memorable heights he hit and the transformative effect he had on his teams — and it feels most of the way towards a definition of footballing greatness. Or you could pick any one of a long list from the 2012-13 season, when Bale managed to outdo himself week after week with another moment more spectacular and dramatic than the last. If you are a Wales fan, it might be the winner against Scotland in 2012, where he ran from the halfway line and put the ball in the top corner with two minutes remaining. Then he helped them qualify for Qatar, whose hosting of the World Cup is controversial for the reasons described in this article. Bale has that magic habit of appearing to turn football from a team game into an individual one.

Terms of Bale's deal were not available. The 32-year-old Bale is set to be a free agent after his contract with Real Madrid expires at the end of June. Bale's ...

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