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Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney make Gareth Bale another sensational offer as he decides to…
Hollywood owners had asked Wales’ all time top scorer to come out of retirement last year
Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney says the offer for Gareth Bale to come out of retirement is “still on the table”. Last summer, McElhenney and Wrexham’s other Hollywood owner, Ryan Reynolds, had tried to get the Wales legend to join their club following their promotion to League Two.
Now, having gone up to League One at the first time of asking, the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star has seemingly not given up hope of seeing Wales men’s all-time top scorer turn out for Wrexham.
“Gareth Bale is still technically available! I made the plea last year and I’m just going to tell Gareth that the offer is still on the table,” said McElhenney, reports WalesOnline.
“We’ll let him play golf whenever he wants. Just as long he comes training and we’ll figure out how to get him in the team.”
Bale retired from football at the age of 33, shortly after the 2022 World Cup. That tournament was Wales’ first appearance at a World Cup in 64 years, with Bale crucial to Rob Page’s men reaching Qatar.
The five-time Champions League winner had the option of another year with LAFC in the United States when he hung up his boots. After he called time on his career in January 2023, McElhenney and Reynolds were soon looking to get the Welsh icon to reconsider his decision.
Last year, the former Tottenham Hotspur star sent Wrexham a message of congratulations after they sealed promotion back to the Football League, with McElhenney jokingly saying “I won’t spend four hours trying to convince you to un-retire for one last magical season”.
Reynolds then upped the ante by adding: “I will shave a professional-grade golf course into Rob’s back if you’ll give Wrexham a season.”
That saw Bale come out publicly to say he wouldn’t be coming out of retirement, with his agent Jonathan Barnett confirming later last year that he simply no longer has the desire or fitness to play again.
“I think for him, it [retirement] was the right time,” Barnett told Sky Sports News. “He’s achieved everything he wanted to achieve – he played for Wales at the highest level of the World Cup, which is what he really wanted to do, and I think he knew his body wasn’t up to it anymore. He’s had a hard time with his body the last few years.
“He’s had a great career. He’s enjoyed himself, but he is having a great life now. He is with his family, which is the most important thing. He’s spending a lot of time with his children and that’s what he wants to do.
“Yes, he’ll do other things, obviously later down the line, but at the moment, let him just enjoy himself.”
