Gareth Bale’s meteoric rise to prominence at Tottenham eventually secured him a record-breaking move to Real Madrid, but Ledley King admits the Welshman was left feeling “quite down” by the winless run which opened his spell at Spurs.
After being snapped up from Southampton as a teenager, big things were expected of a precocious talent when he arrived in north London.
Bale was, however, to endure a 24-game run in the Premier League without tasting victory, leading to serious questions being asked of his value to the cause under Harry Redknapp.
That sequence was eventually ended in 2009, and there was to be no holding him back from that point.
A move forward into a spot on the wing, having previously figured at left-back, allowed the Wales international to break his shackles and become the fearsome forward he is today.
Spurs legend King witnessed a stunning development at close quarters, with Bale helped through the most testing of times at White Hart Lane to become a global superstar worthy of ‘Galactico’ status at Santiago Bernabeu.
The former Tottenham captain told the club’s official website of Bale’s progress, which began in 2009-10: “Gareth Bale was really starting to show what he could do.
“I remember him being quite down earlier that season. We spent a bit of time together in the gym when he was recovering from injury.
“He had that record where he’d played without winning a game, that affected him at the time, but he had that belief in himself and we all saw what he was capable of once he had a consistent run of games.”
Getty ImagesMichael Dawson was another who saw Bale go from zero to hero in a short space of time, with there one run of games in particular which helped to light a fire under the jet-heeled winger.
The ex-Spurs defender said: “The [FA Cup] semi-final was on the Sunday [April 11, 2010], then we had these two huge games. Arsenal, Chelsea, six massive points in terms of the top four.
“Gareth Bale scored in both games. I remember him cutting in from the left and hitting it right foot against Chelsea. They scored late in that game and I had to make a challenge on [Didier] Drogba late on. Things like that stand out.
“Gareth, some of the goals he scored were incredible. He’d just get you up the pitch with his speed and power, you’d be defending in your area and he’d get it and just run the length of the pitch!
“The next season, Champions League, talk about make a name of yourself... special times.”