That escalated quickly – Will Ferrell involved in luring Gareth Bale to LA

Gareth Bale received a personal message from Hollywood star Will Ferrell as Los Angeles FC rolled out the red carpet when signing the Wales international for the World Cup build-up and beyond.

There was intense speculation about the 33-year-old’s future – and even talk about his love for the sport – after a medal-laden spell with Real Madrid came to a frustrating end.

Bale was linked with a move to hometown club Cardiff ahead of Wales’ appearance at the winter World Cup, but LAFC swept in under the radar and brought him to Major League Soccer.

It is a signing befitting the city of stars, where the forward has signed a 12-month contact with an option through to 2024.

“I will tell you the absolute, honest truth, until I saw a signature I never believed it would happen,” LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington told the PA news agency.

“But everything trended positively throughout and it was a fairly linear process. It was sort of step by step.

“He had some questions and we would bring in that expert to talk about it – whether that would be our strength and conditioning staff, whether it was bringing an owner into the conversation.

“We just had probably five, six conversations, and I think each got us a step closer to the deal.

“We were a totally different opportunity and I was not surprised to hear there was competition in Europe.

“But I think what helped is Gareth’s knowledge of LA, getting to know what the club offered, which was unique relative to the other options, and we were grateful that the stars aligned, and we’re able to do.”

Representatives sounded out LAFC to see if they were interested in Bale after Wales’ World Cup play-off win against Ukraine – a period when the club were completing a deal for