Book excerpt: Gareth Bale is the future of Real Madrid and the beating heart of the sensational Wales national side. Although always an exceptional athlete (at school his PE teacher had to impose special restrictions on him to make it fair for other pupils), at one time it seemed like Bale’s terrible injury record would stop him from ever fulfilling his potential. But in the season of 2012/13 he caught fire for Tottenham Hotspur and never looked back, bagging a PFA Player of the Year Award and—ultimately—a move to the world’s biggest club. His transfer to Real Madrid made him the world’s most expensive footballer, in a staggering deal said to eclipse the previous record fee Real paid for Cristiano Ronaldo, and his life changed forever. After winning the Champions League twice with them, and spearheading Wales’s astonishing charge to the semi-finals of the 2016 Euros, he is now lining up to compete with Neymar and Pogba for the position of the world’s next premier player. In this revealing portrait of the player, acclaimed football biographer Frank Worrall delves behind the headlines to give an insight into just how the boy from Cardiff went on to become the world’s most in demand player. He also traces how his relationship with the notoriously competitive Ronaldo unfolded and how he has gradually emerged from his teammate’s shadow to become Real Madrid’s most prized asset, and a Welsh national hero.