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Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has confirmed Gareth Bale was in talks to join the club before signing for Los Angeles FC. The forward had an offer from the Championship side, but decided to try his luck in Major League Soccer this season.
The former Real Madrid star was a free agent this summer after running down his contract at the Santiago Bernabeu. He spent nine years at the Spanish club after moving from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 for a then-world-record transfer fee of €100 million.
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Speaking on talkSPORT (via Mirror), Tan admitted he held talks with Bale regarding a move to Cardiff City. The Welshman was said to be keen on the move, but had his head turned by the MLS offer.
The Championship club's owner said:
"We were very very keen, he would have been a big coup for us. It would have been great for Bale to play for his hometown, all the Welsh would be very happy if Gareth Bale returned home and played for Cardiff. Personally, I think LAFC's offer was too attractive for him to turn down. But originally he really wanted to come, the money wasn't the matter."
He added:
"We came up with what we thought was a good offer to him, but finally it was very hard to compete when there is a lot of big American advertisers, a lot of commercial deals which were very good for Bale. We tried our best but we failed.
"Initially with Gareth, it wasn't really the money, he just wanted to help Cardiff and help Wales. That's why we could negotiate with him. He tried his best to join us but eventually I think the offer from LAFC was just too big to turn down."
Gareth Bale to join LAFC in MLS this summer
Gareth Bale has confirmed he is heading to the United States this summer to join Los Angeles FC.
The MLS side are currently at the top of the MLS Western Conference table with 33 points from 16 matches.
They have former Arsenal star Carlos Vela in their squad, with Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini set to join in the coming weeks. The date for Bale's signing has not been confirmed, but it should be soon given the announcement.
