GARETH BALE. #09 IS. BACK.

Last Saturday, we welcomed back GARETH BALE to north London, seven years after he departed for Real Madrid. Now, back at the Club where he made his name, the Welshman has set out his stall of what he hopes to achieve with us in his season-long loan.

- Liam Carson

For Gareth Bale, Spurs is a ‘special club’.

He may have left for Real Madrid seven years ago, but it is clear to see that his love for the Club has never waned. It is as strong as ever.

Nothing was clearer than that when he came back through the doors at Hotspur Way last week, grinning from ear-to-ear and greeting long-serving members of staff like family as he completed his return on a season-long loan from Real.

It has been 13 years since Gareth first signed for us. Joining back in the summer of 2007 from Southampton at the age of just 17, he arrived as a youngster with plenty of potential, but no one could quite predict the stellar future that lay ahead for the Welshman.

Despite a fast start to life in N17 with three goals in his first four starts, injury derailed his early progress. Yet, when he was involved on the pitch, you could see his star quality exuding as his confidence grew. It wasn’t until we moved into 2010 though that Gareth really started to shine in a Spurs shirt.

In the first game of the new decade – a 4-0 FA Cup third round win over Peterborough – he produced an impressive performance which caught the eye, creating two of our goals. From there, he didn’t miss a single minute of action for the rest of the season. We went on a run of just five defeats in our final 26 games in all competitions as we reached the FA Cup semi-finals and qualified for the Champions League for the first time. Meanwhile Gareth made the important switch from full-back to leftwinger.

It was a huge five months for him, but the best was still to come. His goals and assist tallies continued to grow in the following campaign, especially in Europe.