Redknapp: Gareth Bale could win Ballon d'Or "this year"

There’s no one in football who knows Gareth Bale better than Harry Redknapp. The English coach was manager of Tottenham between 2008 and 2012 and was the man responsible for converting the Welsh left-back into a forward.

Redknapp, who is now a football adviser to Australian side Central Coast Mariners, always believed in Bale’s rich attacking potential and has talked to British paper Daily Mail about how the Real Madrid star has shown fantastic character to come back from a poor season in 2014-15 and make himself considered one of the world’s best players once again.

"He's come back strong"

“The thing that bothered me when he left Spurs was that he was going to Real Madrid and would he be strong enough or would he fade into the background behind Cristiano Ronaldo?” said Redknapp. “The first year he was great, then he had a year when he struggled a bit and he has come back strong again.

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“He has everything. He's good in the air, he's 6ft 2in, a great big fella. He has power — over short distance he's lightening quick — he can run long distances, he can dribble, he can shoot. He can pretty much do everything.

“He's a world figure, he's up there"

“He's a world figure, he's up there. When he went to Real Madrid, I said he's behind Messi and Ronaldo — but now he's up there in the top six players in the world, for sure. Now all he has to do is knock those two off their perch and claim the top spot.'

And Redknapp believes Bale even has the potential to do just that and claim the Balon d’Or in the next 12 months. “I think he could do it this year. If he has a great Champions League, it's possible, if he can have a great run of games in it.”