Bale: "I never had any problems with Cristiano"

In an interview with BT Sport, Gareth Bale denied that he had a poor relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo when the two shared a dressing room at Real Madrid. And whilst Ronaldo left last summer, it's expected that Bale will do the same this time around. However Bale admitted that the Portuguese star "is an incredible player".

The relationship between the two players has always been the focus of attention amongst the media and gestures between the pair on the pitch further fueled that. Bale's agent, Jonathan Barnett, said this at the time: "They are completely different people. There's no hate between the two but nor do they go out for dinner together. But I don't see Bale wanting to be the best model in the world or having the best selling underwear. That isn't Gareth."

Bale's version is now known too. "Cristiano is an incredible player, I thoroughly enjoyed playing with him. Obviously the media try and hype up these problems which were never there. We got on really well. He's an incredible player and what he did for the club with the amount of goals he scored. An incredible player and he is still going now.”

The Welsh forward also spoke about his departure from Tottenham. "I appreciated everything Tottenham had done for me but I think they did understand at the time that when such a big club comes in for you like Real Madrid it is difficult to turn them down. Even though I was enjoying my time at Tottenham, loved the club and I still do, to have Real Madrid come for you, you'll regret saying no."