Real Madrid Galacticos Gareth Bale admits moving to Spain was the furthest thing from his mind when he was running around for Southampton's youth team.
Bale left Southampton for Tottenham and initially endured a difficult time at White Hart Lane before a switch from left-back further forward saw him flourish.
He is now the most expensive player in the history of football and, although he admits luck has played a role in his rise to the top, he is also proud of much of his own hard work.
"At that time I don't think anybody expected anything in the future to happen as big as it did," he said.
"I think it was obviously thanks to all them that they showed the faith in me and I think those little strokes of luck and the bounce of the ball, you need sometimes to get where you are and luckily that went in my favour.
"I always believed in my ability but I think in any sport you need that little bit of luck.
"That scout might just be there that day that you're playing in a certain game which obviously happened for me.
"So there was an element of luck but I think that a lot of it is down to your hard work and dedication and how much effort you put in on the training pitch and on game days.
"That's been there since I first started and that's still there now."
