London (AFP)

Arrived at Real Madrid as the most expensive player in history and heir to Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013, Welsh striker Gareth Bale (31) will return to Tottenham after seven years of disappointments, missed appointments, and too rare bursts of shards.

Fans can breathe a sigh of relief: with this one-year loan from Spurs, Real Madrid finally got rid of one of its highest salaries (around EUR 30m per year), little loved by fans and which did not justify its value in the field.

The end of a long, loveless marriage.

"The price of the transfer has nothing to do with me," the Welsh international (83 caps) had justified in advance in September 2013, while his transfer to EUR 100m had made him the player. most expensive (and most anticipated) in the world, in the wake of merengue legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Bale suffered 33 injuries in seven seasons and was sidelined for 403 days in total due to his physical glitches - more than a year.

These repeated convalescence helped to create around the player a climate of skepticism ... which did not stop growing as the players bought even more expensive than him outclassed him.

Off the field, his Spanish stammering after seven years in Madrid, his passion for golf and his lack of involvement were seen by fans as signs of disinterest.

"I'm definitely more excited to play for Wales," even awkwardly said the Madrid right-winger last year.

- Highlights -

Still, Bale scored the best goal of any Copa del Rey finals in 2014, with that crazy ride that started off the center line, drifted across the sideline to drop Marc Bartra for the race, and ended in 'a sharp left foot in the nets of Pinto to beat FC Barcelona (2-1).

And he is also the author of one of the most beautiful goals of a Champions League final, in 2018 against Liverpool, by taking the center of Marcelo with a superb acrobatic return ... perhaps even more magnificent than the resumption of the left of Zinédine Zidane, 16 years earlier against Bayer Leverkusen.

There was also this crucial header against Atlético Madrid in extra time in the 2014 C1 final, the volley at Borussia Dortmund (2017), this stung ball against Schalke 04 (2014) and this crazy race started in front of his own penalty area and finished in the cages of Rayo Vallecano (2014).

But all these moments of brilliance were not enough to restore the image of a footballer certainly very talented, but too irregular and too divisive for the very civilized White House, which had difficulty in appreciating it.

- The Zidane aegis, cracked -

And when club figure Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus in Turin in 2018, it was already too late: Bale was in his thirties who no longer had the legs of his youth, and his decline only got worse. under the Zidane era.

The French technician has (until recently) always given the Welshman a chance at major meetings, and has always protected him in front of the press.

Last year, when Bale returned to London to chat with his agent, Zidane made it clear that he had given him permission.

When Bale, with the Welsh side, boasted behind a banner reading "Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order", Zidane saw it as a joke.

When Bale pretended to fall asleep in the stands, Zidane convinced the club not to fine him.

But, resigned, Zizou ended up leaving him on the bench.

And did very well without him, with a La Liga won in July.

On July 16, when his teammates tossed Zidane into the air with happiness, Bale stared at the scene with his arms crossed, a little further away, his medal around his neck.

This is his last appearance as a Real Madrid player.

A long relationship punctuated by unforgettable moments, but above all by latent regrets.

© 2020 AFP