Gareth Bale has confessed to having had a soft spot for Arsenal’s Invincibles a young player, and revealed a particular penchant for former Gunners star Thierry Henry.
The ex-Tottenham forward, who left White Hart Lane in 2013 in order to make a then world-record transfer to Real Madrid , was speaking to BT Sport’s What I Wore series , and posed alongside Henry’s famous number 14 jersey as he revisited the love he once felt for his old team’s great rivals.
With Henry leading the line, Arsenal won an unprecedented unbeaten Premier League title in 2004, the second of two league championship successes in three seasons as Arsene Wenger’s team briefly dominated English football with an irresistible brand of swashbuckling attacking play.
“I used to watch Arsenal a lot,” said a sheepish Bale.
“I used to really enjoying watching Henry, and I used to like watching Dennis Bergkamp as well. Tottenham fans wouldn’t be happy that I’m holding this!”
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In the interview, Bale also expressed admiration for his current Wales boss Ryan Giggs, whose scintillating left-sided attacking play bears a similarity to the style of football that once made the 29 year-old the world’s most expensive player.
“(Giggs was) a massive influence,” he said. “He was my hero growing up, obviously being Welsh, left-footed, I looked up to him a lot, I used to enjoy watching him play.
“Like all kids do, they want to be a player, I used to shout that I was Giggs, but I didn’t have quite the hairy chest!”
Bale also took a moment to acknowledge two players who ended up on the wrong side of his own personal brilliance in Champions League matches – former Inter full-back Maicon and ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius.
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The Wales international roasted Maicon during his Tottenham days during a 4-3 defeat at the San Siro in 2010, whilst the German Karius was left red-faced when Bale executed a sublime overhead kick goal in the Kyiv final last June.
“I’m sure they (Maicon and Karius) wouldn’t feel sorry for me if they did the same,” he said unapologetically.
“Obviously, it was unfortunate that he didn’t have a great night but for my first goal, I don’t think he would have saved it anyway.”
