Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney has reminded Gareth Bale that his offer is "still on the table" as he continues to try to convince the Welsh legend to come out of retirement.
Bale is still only 34 and shocked fans when announcing his retirement from football in January 2023, spending less than one year at Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC after leaving Real Madrid. The winger was regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and won five Champions League trophies with Los Blancos, but fell out of love with football towards the end of his career.
The former Wales captain loved playing for his country and achieved a lifelong dream of playing in the World Cup back in 2022, helping them qualify for the first time since 1958. But a tense relationship towards the end of his time in Madrid led to accusations Bale was golf - ultimately stepping away from the game altogether after a brief stint in the United States.
McElhenney has made several offers to Bale in an attempt to revive his football career, and is keen to make him the face of Wrexham. Bale rejected his initial approach last year, but McElhenney has made another attempt after Wrexham achieved promotion to League One.
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"Gareth Bale is still technically available! I made the plea last year and I’m just going to tell Gareth that the offer is still on the table," McElhenney said to The Athletic. "We’ll let him play golf whenever he wants. Just as long he comes training and we’ll figure out how to get him in the team."
With some pre-season training, Bale would of course be Wrexham's best player and the biggest star across the EFL, but it seems Bale is happy with his retirement decision. His agent, Jonathan Barnett, confirmed last year that Bale has no desire to play football again.
"I think for him, it [retirement] was the right time," Barnett told Sky Sports News. "He's achieved everything he wanted to achieve -- he played for Wales at the highest level of the World Cup, which is what he really wanted to do, and I think he knew his body wasn't up to it anymore. He's had a hard time with his body the last few years.
Bale achieved all he wanted in football and wanted to focus on his personal life (S4C)"He's had a great career. He's enjoyed himself, but he is having a great life now. He is with his family, which is the most important thing. He's spending a lot of time with his children and that's what he wants to do.
"Yes, he'll do other things, obviously later down the line, but at the moment, let him just enjoy himself." McElhenney is still feeling optimistic, and is aware that the season ahead will be a severe test of Wrexham's character.
Last season, Wrexham assembled a League One squad after finally getting out of the National League, and their plan paid off as they secured back-to-back promotions. No team has ever gone back-to-back-to-back within the top five divisions of English football, but McElhenney believes the team are confident.
Wrexham are looking to write football history with a third-straight promotion (MI News/NurPhoto)"Not that it wasn’t real before, but now it gets really real," McElhenney told S4C. "League One is a very competitive division. There are so many great clubs that have come down from the Championship into League One, and it’s going to be a lot tougher than it was past year.
"But I was just with Phil [Parkinson] and then just with the boys in [Las] Vegas, and they seem to think we have a shot at being there are at the top again." Wrexham have only been promoted to the second tier of English football once, and their tenure lasted between 1978-1982, before being relegated.
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