Vincent Tan hopeful Gareth Bale 'will come and play for Cardiff' in 12 months' time

Gareth Bale celebrates scoring for Real Madrid in their Champions League final win over Liverpool in 2018. Reuters

Gareth Bale scores a spectacular overhead kick for Real Madrid against Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final in Kiev. Getty

Gareth Bale kisses the Champions League trophy after beating Liverpool in 2018.

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale collects his medal after he was an unused substitute in their 2022 Champions League final win over Liverpool at Stade de France in Paris. PA

Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring on his Real Madrid debut against Villarreal in 2013. AP

Gareth Bale of Real Madrid lifts the Champions League trophy after his side beat Juventus 4-1 in the final in Cardiff in 2017. Getty

Gareth Bale celebrates after scorng his second goal during the Champions League final win over Liverpool in 2018. AFP

Gareth Bale after Real Madrid's Champions League final win over Liverpool on May 28, 2022. Getty

Gareth Bale celebrates scoring his third goal against Kashima Antlers in the 2018 Fifa Club World Cup semi final at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, left, shakes hands with manager Santiago Solari after scoring a hat-trick in their 3-1 win over Kashima Antlers at 2018 Fifa Club World Cup. Reuters

Gareth Bale scores for Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in 2014. AFP

Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring Real's opening goal in their La Liga match against Levante at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2015. Getty

Gareth Bale scores for Real Madrid against Kashima Antlers in the 2018 Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale celebrates scoring their second goal against Kashima Antlers in Abu Dhabi at the 2018 Fifa Club World Cup. Reuters

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale celebrates scoring a goal with Marco Asensio. Reuters

Gareth Bale has ended his nine-year stay at Real Madrid. Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters

Gareth Bale celebrates scoring for Real in the Champions League match against Legia Warszawa in 2016. Getty

Gareth Bale celebrates Real Madrid scoring in the Champions League semi-final, second leg against Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu on May 4, 2016. Getty

Gareth Bale celebrates with Real Madrid teammates after beating Sevilla in the Uefa Super Cup in Cardiff in 2014. EPA

Gareth Bale with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez after completing his move to Spain. AP

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan remains hopeful that he can lure Gareth Bale to his hometown club next year after revealing how close he came to signing for the Bluebirds before moving to Los Angeles FC.

On Saturday, Bale, 32, confirmed the next chapter in his career would take him to Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC after nine trophy-laden years at Real Madrid.

The Wales forward held talks with Cardiff about joining the Championship club for the 2022/23 season before agreeing terms on a 12-month deal at LAFC.

Despite the setback Tam believes Bale can be persuaded to join his hometown club at the end of his LAFC deal, although it is understood the former Tottenham player has an option to extend the agreement for a further year.

Tan told talkSPORT radio: “His contract is for 12 months, let’s see what happens. Maybe Gareth, by then, will probably want to come back and come home and serve his country, serve Cardiff, his hometown.

“He has never played in Cardiff, he and his family are fans of the club.

“So, hopefully, in 12 months’ time, he is still young, he will only be 34, some players come back and play until they are 40 years old.

“So he has still got a few years he can play and hopefully he will come and play for Cardiff after this [contract with LAFC finishes].”

Playing in the second tier of English football was considered an improbable choice for a five-time Champions League winner who was on a reported salary of £600,000 ($736,370) per week in Spain.

But Bale’s primary focus has been on what serves him best ahead of Wales’ first World Cup since 1958, and Cardiff share their facilities with the Football Association of Wales’ medical staff in the Vale of Glamorgan.

“We were very, very keen, he would have been a big coup for us,” Tan said. “It would have been great for Gareth to play for his hometown, all the Welsh would be very happy if Gareth returned home and played for Cardiff.

“Personally, I think LAFC’s offer was too attractive for him to turn down. But originally he really wanted to come, the money wasn’t the matter.

“We came up with what we thought was a good offer to him, but finally it was very hard to compete when there is a lot of big American advertisers, a lot of commercial deals which were very good for Gareth.

“Initially with Gareth, it wasn’t really the money, he just wanted to help Cardiff and help Wales. That’s why we could negotiate with him.

“He tried his best to join us but eventually I think the offer from LAFC was just too big to turn down. We tried our best but we failed.”