‘Definitely interested’ - Real Madrid legend Gareth Bale still wants to follow Ryan Reynolds & Co into club ownership after failed bid for power at Cardiff

The former Wales star's efforts to be part of a new era in Cardiff's history was rebuffed by Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan over the summer. However, the 36-year-old, who is enjoying family life and a slower pace of life, still feels that club ownership is something he could sink his teeth into.

He said, via Wales Online: "I knew football wasn't going to last forever anyway. I enjoy being with family, keeping in football a little bit by doing some stuff on the TV. My kids keep me very busy, It's great to now have that time to spend with them and not be away every weekend and missing a lot of them growing up, just being able to go out and be a dad finally. At the moment I'm quite content where I am. Like I said, if something was to happen with a football club, I would definitely be interested and would love to explore it. I'm still pretty relatively new into retirement so I'm still enjoying that phase of relaxing a bit."

It is clear Bale does not want to slip into the shadows following his retirement in 2022. The ex-winger has taken up a punditry role with TNT Sports for this season and seems to want to follow in the footsteps of Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Whether that happens remains to be seen.

While Bale continues his TNT Sports duties, he will no doubt be keeping an eye on hometown side Cardiff as they try to secure an immediate return to the Championship following their relegation to League One in May. They currently sit fourth in the table, but suffered a 3-1 defeat to Bradford in their latest game.