Bale eyes foreign move "in the future"
Reuters - Saturday 29 September 2012, 12:32
Tottenham Hotspur's flying winger Gareth Bale finds the idea of one day playing abroad appealing despite signing a new four-year deal with the Premier League side in June.
The 23-year-old Welshman has long been coveted by top European names such as Inter Milan.
"I'd never be scared of it," he told Saturday's Guardian newspaper while admitting he did have a fear of spiders.
"It's something I'd like to experience. It's in the future but if something did come up I would obviously look at it with interest."
Spurs are still getting used to life under new coach Andre Villas-Boas, who ruffled too many feathers at Chelsea last season and was given the sack.
Reports have also said his training methods have not won universal approval at their London rivals but Bale said the Portuguese was a good listener.
"For example, if we feel we are working too hard in training, if we say that to him, then he'll ease off. He's still learning as well as a manager," Bale said.
"Sometimes it just takes a bit of time."
The left winger also sought to clear up confusion over why he pulled out of Britain's Olympic squad in July only to appear for Tottenham in pre-season friendlies at the same time as the Games football tournament.
"I had a problem with my back. I just wasn't expecting to recover that quickly," said Bale, who added that British Olympic defender Micah Richards is the toughest right-back he has faced despite the Manchester City man's continual England snub.
Richards, who has won 13 caps, last played for the national team in February and was not selected for Euro 2012 under coach Roy Hodgson who was appointed in May.