Michel Vorm has rated Tottenham legend Gareth Bale's left foot as the best he has ever witnessed - outranking an iconic trio of Dutch talents.

Former Spurs and Swansea City stopper Vorm has had the pleasure of playing alongside some of the best left-footed players of his generation. The ex-Netherlands goalkeeper - who won 15 caps for his country and was a World Cup runner-up in 2010 - just missed out on playing alongside Bale across both of his stints in north London.

However, that doesn't prevent Vorm from admiring the cult-like significance of the Welshman's left peg. So much so that it supersedes even those of the iconic talents he once called his international team-mates

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"Gareth Bale is naturally very talented," he told football.london, in partnership with 888sport. "He’s like a machine. And his left foot is...I’ve seen a lot of good left feet, but his is something else.

"So you have Arjen Robben, [Robin] van Persie, [Rafael] van der Vaart. . .but Gareth Bale was unbelievable. I didn’t play with him, but I saw his career and when he came back I was assistant manager at Tottenham, helping out when Ryan Mason was [in charge].

"I’ve seen so many good players. You see naturally talented players like him. But you don’t see that often, he was very, very special."

Van der Vaart's two-year spell at Spurs also pre-dated Vorm's arrival at the club, though their careers with De Oranje overlapped. Former Arsenal frontman Van Persie, ex-Chelsea winger Robben and Van der Vaart - all 41 - each featured in the Netherlands teams that lost to Spain in the World Cup final nearly 15 years ago, while Vorm was an unused substitute.

Bale never reached quite the same heights internationally, though he was a driving force leading Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016. The winger netted 177 goals in 495 appearances for Tottenham and Real Madrid, but only 21 of those were with his right boot.

Inarguably the best (or at least the most significant) strike of Bale's career was his bicycle kick against Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final. Often dubbed the best finish in the competition's history, his acrobatic effort put Real Madrid ahead against Jurgen Klopp's side as Los Blancos went on to clinch the crown in Kyiv.

It's contributions like that which prop up Vorm's notion that Bale's left foot was better than any other he played with. And many Tottenham supporters may be inclined to agree.