Ange could land Celtic's next Hartson in "frightening" £2.7m-rated "freak of nature" - opinion

With Gareth Bale set to become a free agent at the end of the season, the 32-year-old has been linked with a number of clubs in recent weeks – with one of the more surprising stories suggesting there is a ‘whisper‘ of a move to Celtic.

Indeed, whether or not Ange Postecoglou’s side could offer the Wales international anywhere near the amount of money he would more than likely demand following the conclusion of his £528k-per-week contract at Real Madrid is very much up for debate.

However, while it is true that the forward has not exactly been at his breathtaking best over the last few years in Spain, he would still be a quite extraordinary signing for the Hoops to get over the line this summer.

As previously mentioned, with Bale having made just five first-team appearances for Madrid over the last two seasons, it is clear that the 32-year-old would require a significant amount of work in pre-season in order to get him back up to speed for 2022/23.

However, once he regained his match fitness, the £2.7m-rated forward who scored 106 goals and registered 67 assists over 256 appearances for Los Blancos, in addition to bagging 72 goals and providing 61 assists over 237 outings for Tottenham Hotspur, would undoubtedly be a huge weapon in Postecoglou’s attacking arsenal.

Indeed, the Welshman proved over his 20 Premier League fixtures – only ten of which came as starts – during his temporary return to Spurs last season that he still has what it takes to impress at the highest level of the English game, scoring 11 goals, registering two assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.9 shots and making 1.1 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player who Dean Saunders dubbed a “freak