Gareth Bale and Sergio Aguero aiming for one last hurrah at Wembley in League Cup final

The last time Tottenham Hotspur won a trophy, an 18-year-old from Cardiff with jets in his heels started the adventure. He was mainly known as left-back in those days, and, unfortunately, he was becoming known as a little injury-prone. But he was terrifically exciting. His name was Gareth Bale, and as he celebrated the opening goal in a League Cup third round tie against Middlesbrough in late September 2007 with a knee slide towards the corner flag at the old White Hart Lane, he sensed in the cheers that Spurs supporters already saw him as a fine investment. He had signed from Southampton that summer. The goal against Boro that put Spurs on their way in their triumphant League Cup run was his third from three successive starts. Sadly for Bale, he would not feature again in that cup campaign, one that ended with Tottenham’s first trophy for nine seasons, thanks to a 2-1 Wembley win against Chelsea. Bale, injured for long chunks of his first season in London, watched the final from distance, nursing an injured foot. It would be over the next five years, all trophyless, that the Bale phenomenon took flight, and made him the most expensive footballer in history when he joined Real Madrid for more than €100 million in 2013. Two years earlier, Sergio Aguero had come from the Spanish capital – from Atletico Madrid – to a Premier League a club about to thoroughly dismantle their reputation for lacking silverware. Aguero is synonymous with Manchester City’s serial success in the last decade. He will certainly add to his 14 trophies with the club this season; the immediate question is whether today Aguero picks up his sixth League Cup with City, and whether, in what are his final weeks as a City icon, he plays a significant part in the final, given he is only just back from an injury lay-off and that he is no longer an automatic choice in City manager Pep Guardiola’s strongest starting XI. Bale, 31, and Aguero, 32, look on Sunday’s League Cup final through a similar lens. Both must suspect this may be their last Wembley final. Both are approaching a farewell to clubs that has shaped their careers, Aguero because his contract will not be renewed in June, Bale because his season-long loan back at Spurs expires then. The Welshman has one year left on his Madrid deal, and Tottenham have not been persuaded in the last 10 months he is consistently a brilliant enough performer to justify a bid to keep him in North London. Bale is, though, the most expert cup-winner on Spurs' premises, especially as the task of picking and coaching the team is no longer Jose Mourinho's but has been handed over from the sacked Mourinho to Ryan Mason , who like Bale, was a teenager on the Spurs roster when the club last had a fresh trophy. Mason’s trajectory took him eventually to Hull City, and a grave head injury that curtailed his career. Bale took off to Madrid, and in between his disruptive periods of injury, four European Cups, two La Liga titles, and a knack of stamping his excellence on some of the grandest club finals. Interim manager Mason, 29, has a decision to make on what role to assign Bale, 31, at Wembley. With Harry Kane’s fitness uncertain and doubt over how much of the final Kane can endure, Bale may be required to assume greater responsibility for leading the forward line. Mason, six days into the job, has already coaxed a goal out of him, a fine finish against Southampton in midweek, which augurs well in a season that has had its ups and downs for the Welshman. As his former manager at Spurs, Harry Redknapp, put it: “What he needs is somebody to believe in him and tell him, ‘You’re the best, Gareth!’.” What Aguero will have, from City, is a very respectful, noble send-off reminding him he was their best, when he plays his final minutes in light blue. But that will happen next month. What he would really cherish would be a memorable part in sealing his next City trophy.

Gareth Bale and Sergio Aguero aiming for one last hurrah at Wembley in League Cup final

Spurs and City attackers aiming for silverware with repsective clubs ahead of moving on to pastures new this summer