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Nottingham Forest's transfer sliding doors moment as Gareth Bale the one who got away
Nottingham Forest will approach an important January transfer window looking to get some key signings over the line.
But the club are well aware that things don't always go to plan. In the summer, for example, the Reds were unable to get deals for a striker and another goalkeeper over the line.
Sometimes, the transfers clubs miss out on are as interesting as the ones they do. As was the case when Forest almost signed Gareth Bale.
The Welshman may have turned into a superstar, but at the time the Reds had their eye on him he was simply an up-and-coming young talent. That was back in 2009, when he was playing at left-back and was down the pecking order as he struggled to establish himself at Tottenham Hotspur.
Earlier this week, Manchester City ace Kyle Walker recalled how Bale came close to heading to the City Ground. The pair were teammates at Spurs at the time.
Walker told the Danny Rose & The Full-Back Reunion podcast (via Nottingham Forest News): “You had Gareth Bale and Danny Rose playing at left-back. I can remember coming back from a loan at Sheffield United, I signed and went directly on loan and then Harry (Redknapp, Spurs manager at the time) called me back.
“I went back and we were on the top pitch and Gareth were there and he was saying, 'I am going Nottingham Forest'. All of a sudden, Benoit (Assou-Ekotto) got injured and Gareth went and did what he did. It’s all about luck, you need quality.”
Reports began to emerge towards the end of 2009 that the Reds, with Billy Davies in charge, were keen on Bale. Suggestions of a potential £2-3 million bid emerged. Birmingham City also held an interest. Come January 2010, though, Davies remained coy.
“Well, he’s a very good player. There’s no doubt that people who play at Spurs are all good players, we know that,” he said at the time.
“We’ve got to continue to identify the ones we feel we need and the type we feel we need. Whether Gareth Bale is available or not, I’ve got to say I do have great admiration for the lad and think he’s a wonderful player.
“But without knowing what the budget is and the situation is, it’s very difficult. All you can do is recommend a number of possible targets with different financial packages against their heads, then wait and see how far we can go.”
Things did go pretty far with Bale. Talks were held and a deal near enough done. But the former Wales international, it is said, had a change of heart and decided to fight for his place at White Hart Lane.
“It did go pretty close,” said former Tottenham coach Clive Allen, back in 2013. “I know there were discussions between the clubs.
“The clubs had agreed the potential of the move, so it was something that he had to think about. To his credit, he wanted to stay at Spurs. He wanted to establish himself there.
“It probably got to the stage where it was Gareth’s decision. He made his mind up to stay and fight for a place; to work his way into the team regularly - and that’s exactly what he did. He developed into a quite phenomenal athlete.”
Bale went on to become the world's most expensive player - for a while, anyway - after being snapped up by Real Madrid in a reported £85m deal. A few years ago, in the Daily Mail, Peter Crouch singled out Bale as one of the most impressive players he had seen develop.
"When I was at Southampton there was a buzz about two kids at the Academy — Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale,” he said. “We heard all sorts of positive reports and I knew there was interest from Liverpool about signing Gareth in the summer of 2007.
"Our paths did not cross for another couple of years, until we were together at Tottenham. The young lad I saw initially had some confidence issues and had not enjoyed playing at left-back.
"The talk was that he was going to go to Nottingham Forest for £2m. Then, though, he started to find his feet. He got faster, stronger. His confidence began to grow and gradually all those special things we had been told about when he was a kid started to come true.
"The night that did it for me with him was when he scored a hat-trick in the San Siro. Maicon, the Inter Milan right-back, looked like he had been traumatised by the way Gaz kept running at him relentlessly.
"He tore him to shreds and it was proof that we had a galactico in our midst. You couldn't wish to see a more spectacular transition."
How different things might have been if Bale had instead switched to the City Ground. Forest signed Nicky Shorey on loan from Aston Villa in November 2009. But transfer movement ended up being fairly quiet in the January, with midfielder George Boyd arriving on loan a couple of months later.
The Reds made it to the play-offs, where they were beaten by Blackpool. In one of Forest's sliding doors moments, Bale ended up being one who got away.
