The fast attacking player switched from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid in 2013 for the then record sum of 100 million euros. He won the Champions League five times and the Spanish league three times with Los Blancos.

Unforgotten is his remarkable overhead kick goal in the premier class triumph in 2018 against Liverpool FC. "In 17 seasons I have experienced so many highlights that it will be impossible to repeat them no matter what the next chapter has in store for me," Bale wrote.

Bale ends time in Madrid in frustration

However, he also went through difficult phases. At Real he was sidelined in 2019, coach Zinédine Zidane increasingly relied on other players. Bale was frustrated and expressed it in the dressing room. "I still have three years of contract. If they want me to go, they have to pay me 17 million euros per season. Otherwise I'll stay here and just play golf," he is said to have told his teammates.

Bale returned to Tottenham on loan, having most recently been at Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC, where he also won the championship. With Wales he took part in two European Championships and the World Cup in Qatar. At the 2016 European Championships in France, Wales, led by Bale (110 caps), sensationally reached the semi-finals.

Now he is "full of anticipation" in the next phase of his life. "A time of change and transition, an opportunity for a new adventure," he wrote, without giving details.