Key Cardiff City figure reacts after Gareth Bale transfer setback | OneFootball

Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has told Gareth Bale he will ‘always be welcome’ at the club in the future after the forward opted to join Los Angeles FC.

With the Welsh legend’s contract at Real Madrid expiring, there has been plenty of speculation surrounding where Bale would be playing his football next and it had been thought that the Bluebirds were a genuine option.

However, whilst they were interested, the 32-year-old has decided to move to America, where he will link up with LAFC on an initial one-year contract.

And, speaking to Wales Online, Dalman reacted to the transfer setback with a gracious message.

“We wish Gareth the very best, want to see him get fit and do well for Wales at the World Cup. We hope he plays really well and that Wales also do well as a result.

“Gareth will always be welcome back home whenever he wants. He’d always be welcome at Cardiff whenever he feels it’s his time.”

Bale had been picking his next club with a view to staying fit as he prepares to lead Wales at the World Cup in Qatar in November.

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The verdict

These are classy comments from Dalman and he comes across well considering you can imagine he and the recruitment team put a lot of work in trying to convince Bale to move to the club.

Of course, it was always going to be tough to convince a player of his stature to drop down to the Championship and that’s proven to be the case.

But, with Bale having only initially signed a 12-month deal in America, maybe it’s something that can happen in the future.