Throwback Thursday: The season that prompted Real Madrid's record move for Bale

2013 was the year of the Bale. Tottenham may have missed out on a place in the Champions League, finishing fifth, one point behind north London rivals Arsenal, but Gareth Bale was sensational for the north London side that season. It culminated in a record breaking £86m move to La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid, with Los Blancos regularly flirting with the left-back-turned-left-midfielder-turned-wide-forward. 

In the summer of 2012, Spurs confirmed the appointment of Andre Villas-Boas as head coach. The club had missed out on a place in the Champions League in extraordinary circumstances. Despite finishing fourth, Chelsea’s triumph against all the odds against Bayern Munich saw the Blues take Spurs’ spot in the competition, a ruling that UEFA would later rectify in order to avoid a similar incident in the future. 

Nevertheless, the Portuguese boss quickly went about trying to turn Spurs into a side that would regularly compete for top honours. If anything, Villas-Boas was everything Daniel Levy would hope Mauricio Pochettino would be and the early signs were positive. Coming in as Harry Redknapp’s replacement at White Hart Lane, the 41-year-old brought about a tactical acumen that was found wanting during the former’s stint in charge, even if Redknapp brought the feel good factor back to the club. 

Yet for Villas-Boas’ regimented approach to games, he still relied on moments of magic from his world class Welsh star. Bale force winds would routinely keep opponents grounded, but from January 2013 onwards, Bale was a hurricane of a player. He was Tottenham’s miracle worker as he alone found ways to help the team from a poor result to a good one. 

Cutting in from the right onto his wicked left foot, time and time again Bale would find the top or bottom corner to help Spurs to all the spoils. Winning efforts against Southampton and Sunderland in Spurs’ penultimate and final home games’ of the season were prime examples of his ruthless efficiency from outside of the box. From January 2013 onwards, Bale scored seven goals from outside the box; his nearest competitors in Yohan Cabaye and Lukas Podolski netted six between, bagging three apiece. 

From the New Year of the 2012/13 season onwards, Bale’s goals were worth an additional 18 points for Spurs, which is some feat given they earned 36 points in 2013. All in all, he bagged a total of nine goals from outside of the box, that campaign, a return Luis Suarez (5) would come closest to matching. With 21 goals and four assists, Villas-Boas worked wonders to take Bale’s game to the next level as he won more man of the match awards (11) and earned a better WhoScored rating (7.92) than any other player in 2012/13. 

For all is his excellence in the final third, though, it was always going to end in tears for Tottenham and their fans. It was at a time when, if Real Madrid came calling, you always answered. Levy’s negotiation skills saw Spurs pocket £86m from his sale, an outlay that would ultimately result in a poor summer of recruitment and cost Villas-Boas his job, yet for a period, the club had the ultimate clutch player at their disposal. 

Fast forward to the present day and Bale is being linked with a return to Spurs, although Manchester United are keeping tabs on the Wales international. With Christian Eriksen approaching the final year of his contract, Real Madrid are monitoring his movements and could use Bale as a makeweight in their rumoured pursuit of the Dane. 

Bale wouldn’t be the same player he was when he left in 2013, nor are Spurs the same team, but he’d offer the club that powerful attacking option and be a statement signing the Champions League finalists are crying out for. It would come full circle for a player, who despite enduring his critics in Spain, has been a success in Madrid. With reports suggesting Spurs may move for Bale this summer, supporters will fondly remember a season that saw the 29-year-old light up the Premier League and become football’s most expensive player in the process.