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THE WELSH FOOTBALL ICON IS ON PUNDITRY DUTY FOR THE EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL BETWEEN MANCHESTER UNITED AND TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 15:05, 21 May 2025 Wales football legend Gareth Bale will return to

punditry duties for TNT Sports tonight, over two years on from his retirement from the game. The 35-year-old will join Rio Ferdinand, Glenn Hoddle, Robbie Savage and Paul Scholes on the

panel for Europa League final between Manchester United and his former club Tottenham Hotspur in Bilbao. He was previously part of TNT Sport's lineup for their Champions League coverage

earlier this season and will pick up the microphone again on Wednesday night. When he hung up his boots at the age of 33 in 2023, Bale did so as one of the most highly-decorated players of

the modern era and, in the eyes of many, as the best British player of all time, with 18 trophies to his name. On the international stage, he won 111 caps for Wales, scoring a record 41

goals and leading them to three major tournaments - including a first World Cup for 64 years in 2022. At club level, meanwhile, he came through the ranks at Southampton before achieving

stardom at Spurs and sealing a then-world record £85 million move to Real Madrid in 2013. His time in Spain saw him win five Champions Leagues and three La Liga title, before he saw out his

career with a MLS Cup title with Los Angeles FC. However, even in retirement, Bale has held on to his superstar status and regularly updates his social media followers with photos of him

jetting off on dream holidays, attending glitzy showbiz events and - most importantly of all - playing golf at some of the finest courses in the world. Here's everything you need to

know about the Welshman's new life, from his incredible body transformation over the years to his marriage to his childhood sweetheart wife. HUGE NET WORTH Two years on from announcing

his retirement, Bale still boasts a mammoth net worth. During his time at Real Madrid, the forward was reported to earn an eye-watering £600,000 a week, but he has also ensured he will stay

flush in retirement through a series of smart business moves. Bale opened his bar 'Elevens' in Cardiff in 2017 before opening a mini-golf themed bar called Par 59 in the capital

five years later and opening a second branch in Bristol. While he is teetotal, the former footballer also made a "significant investment" in Penderyn Distillery and became a

minority shareholder in the company, while he has also invested in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL golf league. His fortune has also been given a boost by signing high-profile endorsement

deals with the likes of Adidas, Playstation and BMW over the years. Bale's exact net worth is unclear, with some sources reporting it to be in the region of £115 MILLION. However, the

latest Sunday Times Rich List did not feature Bale in its _40 Under 40_ list_, _suggesting that the true figure is actually under £100 million CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART WIFE Bale married his

childhood sweetheart and former hairdresser Emma Rhys-Jones in 2019. By the time they tied the knot, the couple had already welcomed three children - Alba, Nava and Axel - before their

fourth, Xander, was born in 2021. The pair after often seen jetting off to glamorous destinations around the world with their children, with Bale sharing photos of their trips to Abu Dhabi,

Lapland and the United States in recent times. They met at Whitchurch High School in Cardiff and got engaged in July 2016 during Bale's birthday weekend, before getting married in the

summer of 2019 on the tiny Spanish island of Tagomago. Just 60 guests are said to have attended the ultra-private ceremony, with those in attendance reportedly only told the precise location

24 hours before and made to hand over their mobile phones to ex-SAS security guards. It came after the couple reportedly postponed their wedding a year earlier due to "family

turmoil" on Emma's side, with the difficult period seeing her dad jailed and her brother-in-law pass away. Emma's sister Katie is also married to Welsh rugby legend Taulupe

Faletau, making him Bale's brother-in-law. BODY TRANSFORMATION Now 35, Bale looks incredibly different from the teenager that broke onto the scene with Southampton nearly two decades

ago. While he was "skinny and shy" when he first began his career on the South coast, he soon grew in stature and confidence and reached his physical peak after joining Madrid,

with images of his huge muscular thighs and bulging biceps soon going viral on social media. He has managed to keep his impressive physique in retirement, as he posed with his toned torso

and six pack on full display as he took to the beach in Abu Dhabi last year. It is not just his physique that has changed and developed over the years, however, with Bale reportedly

undergoing a procedure on his ears during his career. Having been mocked for his protruding ears as a child, the Mirror reported in 2013 that the Welshman had "discreetly" checked

into the clinic of a leading plastic surgeon over the summer and had both of his ears pinned back. His hairstyle has also undergone changes, with his famous top-knot style a thing of the

past as he now sports a more trimmed look to his playing days. MASSIVE £4M WELSH HOME AND GOLF COURSE After a career that saw him play in the Championship, Premier League, La Liga and Major

League Soccer, Bale has owned houses around the world. Last year, it was reported that his former mansion in Madrid had been sold to world superstar Kylian Mbappe for a cool £11 million.

However, nothing will quite beat the Welshman's £4 million home in the Vale of Glamorgan, which features, amongst other things, six bedrooms, a dressing room and study - as well as a

three-hole custom golf course in the garden. The mini-course features replicas of three of the most famous golf holes in the world - the 17th at Sawgrass , the 'postage stamp' 8th

at Royal Troon and the 12th at the Augusta National. Bale's love of golf is well-documented, having hit the links regularly even at the height of his football career and achieving a

reported handicap of two. In retirement, he has dedicated even more time to the sport, playing alongside Masters winner Rory McIlroy - who was impressed by the former footballer's

talent. "He has the potential to get to scratch [a handicap of zero], the way he hits the ball he could be a scratch player, but he’s only played for the last few years," said

McIlroy after playing alongside Bale at an event last year. "There is a difference between being able to hit the golf ball well and getting yourself around the golf course and managing

your game – that’s the part he’s learning now." Article continues below Last year, Bale also became an ambassador for the Underrated Golf European Tour, the brainchild of basketball

star Steph Curry, and he has also worked closely with Adidas on their golf content.