A super athlete and as sensible as he was sensational in the destruction of Inter, Bale reveals how he became... The Prince of Wales

By Matt Lawton for the Daily Mail

Chief Football Correspondent
EXCLUSIVE

Last updated at 12:48 AM on 8th November 2010

When you reach the end of this interview, add another £10million to Gareth Bale's value. In fact, why not make it £20m or £30m. Because in the time I was granted this week to get to know the young man of the moment a little better, he succeeded in demonstrating why every manager in world football will soon be demanding their employers splash the cash to secure his services.

This was not Bale's intention. He says he is perfectly happy at Tottenham and the imminent offer of a pay rise should make him even more content to stick around at White Hart Lane for a while.

Clean pair of heels: Bale leaves Maicon and Lucio for dead to set up Spurs' second goal against Inter

But Bale is as rare a 21-year-old off the field as he is on it; as sensible as he is sensational. It was only recently that Harry Redknapp said alcohol was the biggest problem in English football, his concern fuelled by a series of incidents that forced him to ban his players from nightclubs last season.

But Bale? He can't stand nightclubs. Can't stand booze, either. His parents handed him a glass of champagne one Christmas and his palate was so offended that he spat it out.

Many of his contemporaries would have thought that a terrible waste. But not this kid. Alcohol has not passed his lips since. He does not even try to pretend that his decision not to drink is one he took for the benefit of his career.

Chewing the fat: Bale chats to Sportsmail's Matt Lawton after his heroics against Inter

'I didn't think like that at all,' he says with a smile, realising he is passing up the opportunity to make himself sound super-dedicated.

'I don't avoid drinking because I worry it's going to hurt me or anything like that. 'And I have no problem with players who do have a drink. It's a personal choice and I respect that. I just don't like the taste. That's simply how it is.'

Even so, it puts him in a bracket of players Redknapp would describe as 'low maintenance.' But Bale's self-imposed prohibition extends way beyond drink.

He reflects on his time in the Southampton academy, when he shared a room with Theo Walcott, now of Arsenal. He says they hit it off as friends, remaining so to this day. But you quickly get the impression, for all the 'good banter' Bale says they enjoyed, that never once did the warden walk in on a wild party.

'Were they a trifle boring?' I dare to ask. In the nicest possible way, of course. 'I just think we both enjoy being with our friends and spending time with our families,' he says, now laughing and not the least bit offended.

'We both enjoy doing simple things. Playing on the PlayStation with friends, going out for a meal with the family. 'We know people our age like to go clubbing and all that but it just doesn't interest us that much. It's no different to the drinking. Some people like it. Some don't. Some people prefer to stay in, have a quiet night and enjoy themselves in different ways.'

When Redknapp gave Bale a few days off last week, he chose to go home to visit his family and friends in the Cardiff suburb of Whitchurch, where he grew up, although he did seize the chance to follow Colin Montgomerie's Ryder Cup heroes with a round of golf at Celtic Manor.

Forward thinking: Bale wants to stay on the wing, but Harry has other ideas

'With midweek games you don't get too many chances to go home,' he says. But I get the feeling Bale isn't being totally straight here. That behind this deadpan facade is some serious drive and ambition he appears keen to disguise. He knew from an early age that he was something special. He was blessed with the kind of athletic ability only normally found in the best middle distance runners.

Steve Ovett became the Olympic 800metres champion in 1980 because, as a kid, he was winning the English schools 400m and finishing second in the English schools cross country. When Bale was 14 or 15, he was running 11.4seconds for the 100m and 4min 8sec for the 1500m - times that would have ranked him among the best in the UK at both events.

Home boy: Bale's old school friends were at White Hart Lane to witness his stellar performance

That is incredible and it is why his engine allows him to operate at a level far in excess of any other player in the Barclays Premier League. Nobody else covers more than 1,000m at 'high intensity' speed; nobody even gets close.

'I do it in every game,' says Bale, speaking on behalf of BT's Life's a Pitch website. Ovett was a talented footballer as well but chose athletics because he did not like the idea of relying on team-mates to achieve his success.

For Bale, however, it was only ever going to be football. He just happened to be a fast runner as well. He was so good at football that Gwyn Morris, his PE teacher at school, introduced a new rule.

'He banned me from using my left foot,' says Bale. 'If I did he would blow for a free-kick. 'I can't say that I was too happy about it. I just wanted to dribble past people and score. But I guess he did it to even things up a bit and make me use my right foot more.'

Bale would, however, encounter some fairly major obstacles and it is when he reflects on 'the downs' that we gain a deeper understanding of what makes him tick.

There were times, he reveals, when destroying Maicon, the world's finest right back, as he did in the Champions League on Tuesday night, would have seemed like an impossible dream; when a career in professional football even appeared to be in the balance.

The first major setback came when he was a member of Southampton's academy and he was suffering with the kind of growing pains that were making it difficult to play football.

'Between 12 and 14 I shot up a ridiculous amount,' he says. 'The muscles were struggling to stretch and grow at the rate my bones were growing. It gave me problems with my back and my hamstrings.' So much so that Southampton were not too sure if they wanted to keep him on. Until, that is, his mum Debbie went to see Huw Jennings, then the academy director at the club and someone who has spoken of the impression she made that day.

Welsh wizard: Bale tore Maicon to shreds during the 3-1 win at White Hart Lane

'My mum and dad knew what I was capable of and they had to make that clear to them,' says Bale. 'They knew I had experienced growth problems. They understood 'I was having a difficult time. They just had to get the message to Southampton that, given time, I would be back to normal and would continue to progress.'Any parent would have done the same but my mum and dad had confidence in me.'

There would be more downs, though. Only a few months after completing a £6m move from Southampton to Tottenham in the summer of 2007, Bale suffered an injury to his right foot that he now says was 'career threatening'.

'They had to insert a screw in the foot,' he says. 'That was taken out after three months when the plaster came off. 'After that there were seven or eight months of rehab. Luckily it did turn out OK and you come out of those experiences stronger for them.'

It took him until January of this year to regain the kind of confidence and form that enabled him to secure a regular place in Redknapp's team. It is this exper ience that makes him appreciate the success he is enjoying now all the more.

'When you've had the downs I think it makes you realise how important football is to you,' he says. 'It's not a long career and you have to make the most of it. Every game you can play, you want to play because you know it's not going to last for ever.' Does he have dreams?

'Not really,' he says. 'As a kid you obviously dream of being a professional footballer. I would watch players like Ronaldo of Brazil and pretend to be him in the playground. 'But I don't think about trying to become one of the best in the world or anything like that. I just play football. That sort of stuff is for other people to talk about.'

There is just one ambition he is prepared to admit to, although even then he is at pains to stress that Redknapp's wish would be his command. On Monday, Redknapp said he saw Bale's future at left back. Bale would rather play on the left wing.

'It's not really for me to decide,' he says. 'I was always in midfield as a kid. Then I went back into defence and now I'm back in midfield again.

'You obviously have more of a licence to go forward in midfield, which I enjoy. And that's probably the best part of my game. It's also nice not to have to worry about defending so much.'

If that amounts to a problem for Redknapp, it's as much trouble as he is going to get from this extraordinary young man.

Gareth Bale is supporting the launch of BT’s Life’s a Pitch website, the new online football fanzine. For more information go to www.lifesapitch.co.uk