Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney has defended the club's decision to publicly try and sign former Tottenham and Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale.
Having achieved promotion from the National League as record smashing champions last week, he and fellow Hollywood co-owner Ryan Reynolds made an ambitious ploy to get the Welsh legend out of retirement. In a comedic social media back-and-forth, the prospect seemed to be on the cards.
After Bale initially sent a congratulatory video from on his beloved golf course to the movie and TV stars, the Reynolds and McElhenney spotted a chance to lure him to the Racecourse.
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The 33-year-old, who only retired in January, seemingly put this to bed just days later though, saying at the UK Sport Industry Awards: "No I don’t think so," when asked about the prospect of playing for Wrexham. "I think I was looking more for a free round of golf off Rob.
"I'm sure we'll have a chat and a joke but I'm quite happy where I am. I'm spending a lot of time with my kids, my wife, time that I've lost so much over the years being committed to football. I'm just enjoying family life and playing some golf."
In an interview with S4C, the pair were keen to make their genuine interest be known. "I think there’s seriousness from our side, but I don’t know that there’s seriousness from his. I think he’s happy,” McElhenney explained.
“I’m also weirdly happy for him to do exactly what he wants to do with his life," added Reynolds. “He’s given up so much for a sport that he loves. It’s fun, though. I like that we can kind of do some stuff that’s a little outside the box of convention when it comes to goofing around.”
There is precedent for the unexpected at Wrexham already and Reynolds continued to play it cooly, saying: “I didn’t think Ben Foster would be coming over and he did." Bale, who won five Champions League trophies during his glittering playing career, would be a coup of the highest order, though.
The fanfare around the potential move had started when McElhenney replied to Bale's initial message on Twitter, writing: "Hey @GarethBale11 let’s play golf, where I totally won’t spend 4 hours trying to convince you to un-retire for one last magical season."
Bale replied asking which course they would play at. At this point Reynolds entered the 'talks' and joked: "I will shave a professional-grade golf course into Rob’s back if you’ll give Wrexham a season."
There were then several hints dropped over a potential deal being possible after an image was posted by McElhenney of Bale celebrating a goal in a Wrexham shirt, running in front of the two on-watching owners.
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