Gareth Bale can become a Tottenham legend – if he stays

Much has been made of Gareth Bale’s recent form for Tottenham, both in the Premier League and the Europa League, and rightly so. The Welsh attacker has consistently dazzled the White Hart Lane faithful over the last 24 months, and tortured defenders up and down the land.

With Bale’s transformation from a weedy winger into a physically dominant attacker, and with an eye for goal to boot, Spurs have one of the top players in the Premier League in their repertoire. Many in the British press are comparing Bale to Cristiano Ronaldo; high praise indeed.

At the end of last season, once Champions League football had not been guaranteed, Spurs fans knew in their heart of hearts that key playmaker Luka Modric would leave the club. Despite the loss of Modric as a player, the likes of Mousa Dembele have entered the club and minimised the loss of the Croat midfielder. However, should Bale leave White Hart Lane in the summer, there would be no quick fix to replace him.

At 23 years old, Bale literally has the world at his feet, and a move to Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona or another of Europe’s top clubs would come as no surprise given his substantial abilities. However, with Spurs once more teetering on the edge of fourth place, should the north Londoners secure a place in next term’s Champions League, Bale will have the motivation to stay.

Whilst Modric made it clear of his intentions to abandon ship, no such noises have come from the Bale camp. With the form he is in currently, Bale could well almost single-handedly lead his side to a top-four finish and as such would be the catalyst for a new era for the club.

In the longer term it is clear to see that Tottenham have ambitions of playing in Europe’s top club competition year-in, year-out. Keeping Bale and continuing to build a team that can compete around him could not only prove to a winning formula, but also project the player to legend status amongst Tottenham’s fans.