Guardiola: 'Bale will become a great golfer'

"A great player, with a great career, won a lot of trophies," Guardiola said at his January 10 press conference ahead of the League Cup quarter-final against Southampton, when asked about Bale's suspension of his boots. at the age of 33. "Bale is a legend, played more than 100 times for Wales and now he is going to be a great golfer".

On January 9, Bale announced his decision to retire on social networks, and thanked members of the four clubs he played for, including Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid and LAFC, as well as the Wales team. He scored 185 goals in 553 club games, with Real won three La Ligas, one King's Cup, one Spanish Super Cup, five Champions Leagues, three European Super Cups, three FIFA Club World Cups, won the MLS Cup and Supporters ' Shield with LAFC. With Wales, Bale holds a record 111 caps and 41 goals, with his best being reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

In addition to football, Bale is also good at golf and even "addicted" to this sport. In 2020, the 33-year-old star said that she had reached a handicap of 3.0 or 4.0 - the high-level segment, in the program "Talking with Erik Anders Lang".

While celebrating Wales winning the right to the Euro 2020 final, Bale was cheered by his teammates with a flag with a banner written in order: "Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order". The incident made fans at Real angry, when they thought that their team was only third, after golf. When attending the 2022 World Cup, Bale also circumvented the ban of coach Rob Page by playing golf on a simulator at the hotel.

Guardiola is also passionate and often plays golf in his spare time. Many years ago, the Spanish coach once invited Bale to play 18 holes and revealed that he could continue to invite the Welsh star. "At that time, maybe Bale was busy. But now, he has more time, and I will invite him again," said Guardiola. He also confirmed that he had never negotiated to recruit Bale because the transfer fee was too expensive.

Guardiola left open the possibility of using a strong squad against Southampton today because he wants to compete for the title in all four arenas. "I'm not saying Man City will win all the competitions," he insisted. "But we are all trying to get as far as we can in all competitions every season. Otherwise, Man City could not have won the League Cup four times in the last five seasons."