Gareth Bale Is Retiring

Gareth Bale was once the most expensive player in the world. At the age of 33 he is now ending his active football career. Most recently he played for Los Angeles FC in the USA.

Welsh soccer star Gareth Bale is retiring with immediate effect. The 33-year-old announced this on social media. He published two longer statements on this. "After careful and thoughtful consideration, I hereby announce my retirement from association and international football," wrote Bale, who last played for Los Angeles FC in North America's Major League Soccer.

During his career, the Welshman first played in England for Southampton FC and then for Tottenham Hotspur for several years. In 2013 he moved to Spain to join record champions Real Madrid for the then record sum of 100 million euros , with whom he won countless titles, including the Champions League several times. After a brief comeback on loan at Tottenham, he moved to Los Angeles.

With the national team of Wales, Bale had already failed in the preliminary round at the World Cup in Qatar last year . After that, he initially announced that he would continue to be available to the team. The decision to retire from the national team was "by far the hardest of my career," he said.