Gareth Bale

The powerful left-sided Welsh international is currently regarded as one of the best young players in European football.

Signed from Southampton in May, 2007, Gareth showed glimpses of his undoubted talent in his first season but his progress was badly hampered by injury.

Everything changed in January, 2010.

With regular left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto injured, Gareth came in for our FA Cup tie against Peterborough United, set-up three goals and never looked back.

He'd won rave reviews by the end of the 2009-10 campaign and scored back-to-back winners against Chelsea and Arsenal as we qualified for the Champions League - and he was about to go into football's orbit in 2010-11.

Having volleyed home one of the goals of the season at Stoke in August, 2010, Gareth's stunning hat-trick against Inter in the San Siro announced him as one of Europe's top talents. His performance in the return match at the Lane, a memorable 3-1 win against the reigning champions, only enhanced that reputation further.

Gareth went on to make 41 appearances in all competitions that season, scoring 11 goals and the icing on the cake for 2010-11 came when he was named PFA Player of the Season - at the tender age of 21.

He was also named in the prestigious UEFA.com Team of the Year, the first time a Spurs player or Welsh player had made it into that line-up.

His form continued in 2011-12 with nine goals in 36 Premier League appearances and 12 in 42 in all competitions.

He was on the shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year - won by Kyle Walker - and named again in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season as we finished fourth.

In the summer of 2012, Gareth signed a new four-year deal, committing him to the Club until 2016.

Earlier on in his young career, Gareth made his professional debut for Southampton against Millwall in the Championship towards the end of the 2005-06 campaign.

He went on to be capped by his country at Under-21 level before becoming the youngest ever Wales international when he came off the bench against Trinidad and Tobago in June, 2006.

His first Welsh start came, ironically enough, at White Hart Lane in September 2006 when Brazil provided the opposition and a first international goal quickly followed against Slovakia in a European Championship qualifier - making him the country's youngest goalscorer.

Gareth made 45 appearances for Southampton, scoring five goals, and helped the club to the Championship play-offs at the end of the 2006-07 season before his switch to the Lane.