On the latest episode of the Last Word On Spurs podcast, former Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov featured as a guest, to talk through his footballing career and time with the north London club.
One question the former striker answered during the recent podcast was about his first impression of Gareth Bale during his time with the north London club. Berbatov spent time with the Lilywhites between 2006-2008 (scoring 42 goals in all competitions), which is the sort of time that the Welsh winger was starting to establish himself in the first-team at Spurs, having joined from Southampton in the summer of 2007 (per Transfermarkt).
Here’s what Berbatov had to say about the first impression he had of the Welshman during the podcast:
“I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been a person to say, ‘yes, I knew back then he was going to be a superstar, one of the best in the world.’ No, because I was [concentrating] on my own development, I was concentrating on me, bringing my best game to the team so I can help my team with my goals, with my assists, with the way I play.
“Gareth was very young, of course, but then obviously I left, as I left, probably with pure concentration, determination, training and performances, he went [on] to become one of the best in the world. This goes to show you that talent can come from everywhere, and Spurs have always had an eye for talent.
“Now that he’s back, in a familiar environment, hopefully, he can bring [back] everything that he’s known for. I’m happy that he’s not going to sit on the bench anymore and [waste] the talent that he has.”
TIF Thoughts…
Berbatov admits that he certainly didn’t expect Bale to go on to become one of the best in the world but also suggests that he was just concentrating on himself when the Welshman first arrived at the club.
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Hopefully, now that Bale is back, he will be able to rediscover the sort of form that he showed in his first spell at Tottenham, with the 31-year-old having contributed 21 goals in 33 Premier League appearances in his last season in the English top-flight (per Whoscored).