Gareth Bale joins Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC
Gareth Bale has agreed to join MLS side Los Angeles FC on an initial year-long contract, according to reports.
The Wales captain was a free agent after leaving Real Madrid at the end of last season with five Champions League titles under his belt, and there had been fevered speculation that he may end up at his hometown club Cardiff City.
However, he is now headed to Los Angeles FC, according to The Athletic, on a year-long contract with the option of extending for another 18 months.
The move will be gutting for Cardiff fans who had been teased after Gareth Bale visited the Championship club’s Vale of Glamorgan base on their first day of pre-season training.
The sight of Bale at Cardiff’s training ground on Wednesday led some fans to believe that he was about to sign for the Bluebirds and complete one of the most remarkable transfers in Welsh football history.
But Cardiff share the facilities with the Football Association of Wales’ medical staff, and the PA news agency understands that Bale was there to undertake some physio work.
A part owner of LAFC is Hollywood actor Will Ferrell, who joined Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to watch Wrexham play at Wembley last season.
‘Standard’
His agent Jonathan Barnett had said in a recent interview that “what Gareth does next is not about money”, with Bale’s primary focus on what is best for him playing-wise before leading Wales in their first World Cup since 1958.
Speaking during Wales’ recent run of Nations League matches, Gareth Bale said that his future was still “something I guess I need to sit down and go through”.
“Not just with my family, but with the manager here (Page), with the physios here that we use, to see what would give me the best chance of being fit come November and December.
“I don’t really know if the standard makes too much of a difference. A football game is a football game.
“I feel like I’ll never really lose my quality on the ball. I guess it’s a conversation to be had.
“I need time to think what’s the best move for me, my family, my kids, and hopefully we’ll sort that over the summer. I have options.”
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Lots of expats in Hollywood eh Gareth? If you see Ioan give him my regards…
Gareth bale is certainly not ‘welsh in name only’ (whatever that means). He’s done more to raise the profile of the welsh nation around the world than most of us will ever do!
Not what I said though was it?
There seems to have been an outbreak of selective censorship on this page again. All posts which upset Bale fan Leigh seem to have gone.
Have Nation.Cymru given moderator rights to a handful of regular posters? There is no even handedness to moderation here.
Quite frankly I’m coming to the conclusion the whole site is a vanity project shambles.
You should try the Guardian for selective censorship…I could not possibly comment on moderators (that got me the order of the boot) except to say we could broaden the conversation on here…N.C is what we make it I suppose…
If anonymous trolls posted under their real name im sure their comments – however risible – would remain up.
Was there ever any chance of him actually moving to Cardiff? Can’t help but feel most of the headlines in the last few weeks about that were just clickbait. Never seemed to be any substance to the story.
So you’re the new Cynan eh? I preferred the old one
Bale has been significant in helping Cymru to its first World Cup since before I was born. But this move is, I think a misstep on his part. Dangling the carrot of joining a Welsh club seems to have been a poorly thought out gambit to create a bidding war for his last good years. He doesn’t NEED the money, but a million quid a game is hard to turn down. I fear his greed will negatively impact his preparation for the tournament. His new yank club are not going to give a stuff about Wales and his immune system… Read more »
Oh dear, I and my other half were just musing on how much Mrs Bale would enjoy the social life and shopping with Mrs Sussex and the other celebrity wives for a change. While Gareth could stay in shape in the nicest of circumstances and share his skills with his team mates. My greetings to Ioan were sincere as I once had the pleasure of working with him and found him a really nice guy… Sorry if I wound anybody up…as for kicking Cymru into the World Cup it still brings tears to my eyes and always will…that said I… Read more »
Wherever he goes every wales fan should wish him every happiness on the field – and off it – for all he has done for our nation
Gareth’s done more for the welsh nation than most of us will ever do. He certainly doesnt need to explain his liestyle and career choices to gutless trolls who havent even got the bottle to post their gibberish under their own name
Gareth’s done more for the welsh nation than most of us will ever do. He certainly doesnt need to explain his liestyle and career choices to gutless trolls who havent even got the bottle to post their gibberish under their own name (youre not even worthy of a different reply to that other gutless troll on here 😉)
I’m not very knowledgeable about football but no one can fail to recognise Gareth’s amazing achievements with and for Wales. Apart from the fact he’s being greedy (he’s a professional sportsman with a short career – in my view he’s entitled to maximise his earnings while he can), the main criticism among the comments is that a move to LA will be detrimental to his fitness and keeping him in shape for the World Cup. It seems to me that a league where the playing conditions will be a lot closer to those in Qatar might be a better preparation… Read more »