Gareth Bale has revealed why he rejected Manchester United, in favour of a move to Real Madrid, in the summer of 2013.
Bale, aged 25, signed for Real in a world-record fee of £85 million from Tottenham Hotspur.
The Welsh international has since scored 20 goals in his first full season in the Spanish capital, along with adding five other goals for Madrid this season.
And he revealed that the chance to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo was too much of an opportunity to turn down, despite interest from Manchester United, then managed by David Moyes.
Bale said: “I think Cristiano has been amazing this season. The amount of goals he’s scored, he won the Champions League with us, and he’s been playing fantastic.
“I can’t see many people past him [for the Ballon d’Or] but I’m looking forward to seeing who wins and good luck to everybody.
“It’s another reason why I came to Madrid – to learn from the best players. Seeing Ronaldo in training every day, how concentrated he is on every aspect of his game and on the pitch, it gives me that kind of platform to aim for and keep improving, and hopefully one day I can get there.
“At the moment Ronaldo’s on another level to everyone else. If you don’t want to be the world’s best you probably shouldn’t be playing football.”
by Ben Reardon
@BenReardon1
