Gareth Bale to Birmingham City: The truth about those transfer rumours as superstar sparks World Cup bid

Gareth Bale is back in the news following his match-winning performance for Wales against Austria last night. The gilded superstar struck two magnificent goals as Robert Page's men edged past Austria to set up a winner takes all play-off for the right to go to what would be Wales' first World Cup since 1958.

Bale left Spurs in 2013 for a then world-record fee of £85 million after a fine 2012-13 season that saw him score 26 times and set up 15 goals for his team-mates. But for a loan spell back at Tottenham last season he's been at Real Madrid ever since, winning four Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles. He's not the flavour of the month there now though - a mainstay for his country but a bit-part for his club.

When his fantastic career eventually ends it will be his time Spurs for which he is best remembered in this country. He flourished at the old White Hart Lane but it could have been so different. Bale was close to leaving Spurs having endured a torrid time since he arrived from Southampton, whose academy he came through, in 2007.

And he could have even ended up at Birmingham City.

Here's the story of how Blues made an approach for Bale...

Having signed for an initial £5m from Southampton in May 2007, Bale went a record 24 Premier League games without a win. The winless run had stretched over two years and in October 2009, it was thought that then Tottenham boss, Harry Redknapp, was ready to offload the injury-prone Welshman. Bale had spent large spells on the treatment table, first with an ankle injury and then with a knee ligament problem.

In the wake of the Carson Yeung takeover in 2009, McLeish was promised backing from the new board and a war chest of £40 million. Rumour had it, that Birmingham and Alex