Gareth Bale

 

Born in 1989, Bale first attracted the attention of Southampton FC at the age of just nine. In school, he was such a prodigious talent that his PE teacher, Gwyn Morris, had to impose special restrictions on him to make it fair for the other pupilsthese included playing one-touch football and not using his left foot. In April of 2008, Bale became the second-youngest player ever to sign for Southampton. Despite playing at left-back he scored five goals and was extremely impressive in his first season. The Premier League soon came calling and in 2007 Bale signed a four-year deal with Tottenham Hotspur. His career at White Hart Lane didn't get off to the best start, as he played in a record 24 games without a win, but in late 2009 he seized his chance to secure a regular place in the first team and since then he had proved to be a top-class footballer with a stunning hat-trick in Tottenham's Europa League tie against Inter Milan at the San Siro and a man-of-the-match performance in the return leg. Bale has unsurprisingly also made several appearances for Wales, and his talent has been compared to that of the legendary Ryan Giggs.