Gareth Bale’s career in pictures

Gareth Bale started his career as a left-back at Southampton and quickly made a name for himself (PA)

Bale joined Tottenham in 2007 and scored his first goal for the club in a 3-3 draw with Fulham that September, but his season was soon wrecked by injury (Nick Potts/PA)

Bale’s performances for Tottenham in the 2010-11 Champions League, in particular home and away against Inter Milan, drew widespread praise (Nick Potts/PA)

Bale celebrates a north London derby goal against Arsenal (Sean Dempsey/PA)

Gareth Bale with the PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in 2013

Bale won the PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in 2013 (PA)

Gareth Bale, left, and Cristiano Ronaldo

Bale joined Real Madrid in a then-world record deal in 2013, joining the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo at the Bernabeu (Adam Davy/PA)

Gareth Bale celebrates winning the Champions League

Bale scored as Real beat Atletico Madrid to win the Champions League in 2014, the club’s 10th European Cup triumph (Nick Potts/PA)

Gareth Bale celebrates scoring for Wales against England at Euro 2016

Bale celebrates scoring for Wales against England at Euro 2016 (John Walton/PA)

Bale helped Wales reach the semi-finals of the tournament (Joe Giddens/PA)

Gareth Bale lifts the Champions League trophy

Bale won the Champions League for a third time with Real in 2017, coming off the bench after an injury-plagued season as his side beat Juventus in the final in Cardiff (Nick Potts/PA)

Gareth Bale scores an overhead kick in the 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool

Bale scored an outrageous overhead kick in the 2018 Champions League final to inspire Real to victory over Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)

Bale returned to Tottenham on loan for the 2020-21 season under Jose Mourinho (Nick Potts/PA)

Bale helped Wales reach the knockout stage of the delayed Euro 2020 (PA)

Bale collected a fifth Champions League winners’ medal in 2022 but left Real that summer (Nick Potts/PA)

Gareth Bale celebrates leading Wales to their first World Cup in 1958 following victory over Ukraine

Bale led Wales to their first World Cup since 1958 following victory over Ukraine (David Davies/PA)

Gareth Bale celebrates scoring against the United States

Bale scored a penalty to earn Wales a 1-1 draw in their opening World Cup group game against the United States in Qatar (Nick Potts/PA)

Gareth Bale after Wales' loss to England

But Bale was powerless to prevent Wales bowing out of the World Cup following a 3-0 defeat to England, which proved to be his final competitive appearance (Martin Rickett/PA)

Gareth Bale’s career in pictures

Russell Martin hails ‘excellent’ Tyler Dibling after Southampton held by Ipswich

Sam Morsy earns Ipswich dramatic draw at Southampton

Kieran McKenna does not see Ipswich’s trip to Southampton as a six-pointer