Gareth Bale's estimated net worth as Cardiff City takeover approach revealed | OneFootball

We looked at Gareth Bale's estimated net worth after it was revealed that he is part of a consortium looking to buy Cardiff City.

Cardiff City supporters have been left stunned by the news that former Wales legend Gareth Bale is leading a consortium who have made an approach to buy the club.

Cardiff were relegated from the Championship last season after a disappointing campaign that saw them finish bottom of the table, and they will play in the third tier of English football for the first time in 22 years next term.

After a lengthy managerial search, the Bluebirds appointed Brian Barry-Murphy as their new head coach this week, with the 46-year-old leaving his role as assistant manager of Leicester City to sign a three-year contract at the Cardiff City Stadium.

With Barry-Murphy now in place, Cardiff supporters had assumed that preparations for the new season would continue under the existing ownership, but The Athletic revealed on Friday afternoon that Bale is fronting a group who are keen to buy the club.

Gareth Bale's consortium have Cardiff City takeover approach rejected by Vincent Tan

Bale was born in Cardiff, and he went on to enjoy a glittering career that saw him score 106 goals in 258 games and win 15 major trophies with Real Madrid, as well as helping Wales to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

After Bale left the Santiago Bernabéu, there was some speculation about a potential move to Cardiff, but he instead joined MLS side LAFC, where he scored three goals in 14 appearances before announcing his retirement from football after Wales were knocked out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar at the group stage.

Bale has since become involved in punditry, but it seems as though he is keen to turn his hand to football club ownership, and The Telegraph reported on Monday that he had been lined up to front a US-based private equity group's takeover of Plymouth Argyle.

However, those claims have now been denied by The Athletic, with respected journalist David Ornstein instead claiming that Bale is leading a consortium who are looking to buy Cardiff, and they are believed to have sent a letter of intent to Tan last month in which they "expressed their desire to purchase the Welshman’s hometown club and included financial numbers".

That proposal is said to have been rejected by Tan, but Bale's interest in the Bluebirds "remains strong", and it remains to be seen whether he and his fellow prospective investors will make a formal bid for the club.

High-profile involvement in EFL clubs has become increasingly common in recent years, with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney leading Wrexham's rise from the National League to the Championship, while Tom Brady is currently on the board of Birmingham City, and on the other side of South Wales, Bale's former Real Madrid team-mate, Luka Modrić, has recently become the new co-owner of Swansea City.

Gareth Bale's net worth as he plots potential Cardiff City takeover

Bale was widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of his generation, and he built up significant wealth during his career, with the Welshman believed to have been on around £600,000-a-week at Real Madrid.

According to Wales Online, despite hanging up his boots more than two years ago, Bale has an estimated net worth of around £120 million, which underlines the vast financial power he could bring to Cardiff if he was to take over the club, particularly as he is part of a consortium that will likely include other individuals with similar levels of wealth.

Bale may no longer be making money from his talent on the pitch, but he has become involved in a number of business ventures in recent years, first opening a bar called Elevens in Cardiff in 2017 before launching a golf and dining venue called Par 59 in the city five years later, and a second branch has since popped up in Bristol.

The 35-year-old is a minor shareholder in Penderyn Distillery, and, again showcasing his passion for golf, he has also invested in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TGL league, as well as striking some lucrative endorsement deals with the likes of Adidas, Playstation and BMW.

After Bale's retirement, former Wales assistant manager Osian Roberts revealed that his international team-mates had jokingly encouraged him to buy non-league side Merthyr Town, but while Tan seems reluctant to agree to a deal, it seems he is now serious about taking over his hometown club Cardiff.