Playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo has inspired Gareth Bale to work harder to become the best player in the world, the Welshman has said.
The 25-year-old joined Los Blancos from Tottenham Hotspur in a 91-million-euro deal 15 months ago. And he impressed fans and pundits alike in his first season in the Spanish capital, scoring 22 goals along the way and picking up winners medals in both the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
Speaking to BBC’s Football Focus programme, the forward said training alongside Ronaldo has giving him a platform at which to aim for. Ronaldo has amassed 50 goals for his club for the past four seasons and already has 23 to his name this season.
Unsurprisingly, he is favourite to pick up the Ballon d’Or again in January, something Bale believes would be the right choice. And he added that he has eyes on that trophy one day too.
“I’m improving all the time and trying to get to the level Cristiano’s at. “The amount of goals he scores and what he does for the team is incredible. Nobody is living up to that at. At the moment he’s on another level to everyone else,” he stated.
And he went on: “By seeing him in training and in games it gives me that kind of platform to aim for and keep improving, and hopefully one day I can get there. If you don’t want to be the world’s best you probably shouldn’t be playing football.”
