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Gareth Bale stepped up when necessary to help send Wales to a first World Cup in 64 years, but his future in the club game remains unclear.

One of the big advantages of being an elite-level footballer is the luxury of choice. For the overwhelming majority of players, a career in professional football is one of insecurity, that the next injury might be the one that brings everything to a complete halt, or that this contract could be the last. But at the top level of the game, years of plump contracts mean financial security and no shortage of offers, even at a point when bodies are starting to resist the punishing physical schedule that the game can push upon them.

In the immediate aftermath of Wales’ 1-0 win against Ukraine in their World Cup play-off match in Cardiff, Gareth Bale was inevitably questioned about his next career move. In some respects, it was a completely understandable question; Bale is a high-profile player whose departure from arguably the highest-profile football club on the planet was always going to draw considerable attention. But it also feels like asking that question at all is almost to misunderstand Bale, his relationship with the game, and his relationship with the Wales national team.

For most top-level players, Gareth Bale’s 2021/22 season would be considered something of a disaster. He only made seven appearances for Real Madrid and his involvement in the