Gareth Bale: LAFC teammate claims winger 'only wants to speak Spanish' | OneFootball

LAFC midfielder Ilie Sanchez has admitted that new signing Gareth Bale goes out of his way to speak Spanish with him and the South American players in the squad.

Bale's time at Real Madrid was littered with accusations that, despite living in the country for eight years, he had refused to learn Spanish and declined the chance to communicate with his teammates as a result.

Such claims have been rebuffed once or twice in the past, but now Sanchez has revealed that Bale makes an active effort to speak Spanish despite usually being spoken to in English.

"Gareth speaks to me in Spanish. I am the only Spaniard, but there is a lot of South American and Central American in the squad. And he just wants to speak Spanish with us," Sanchez told AS. "In fact, sometimes we speak to him in English and he answers us in Spanish!

"He is involved. The other day he went through the welcoming rite at the stadium cheering the fans on with the megaphone. We also did it to [Giorgio] Chiellini. He looks happy."

On Bale's arrival, Sanchez continued: "It has been a confidence boost. That a footballer of his enormous level has decided to come highlights our project.

"I admit it, when you see that he is now your teammate, that makes us push a little harder to compete and to try to win. And everything we have seen and felt with him is pure commitment. He wants to help us win titles."