Gareth Bale: How His International Career Might Affect His Tottenham Future

With all the speculation surrounding Gareth Bale right now (as covered in Bleacher Report's Tottenham Transfer Tracker), there is one aspect of the discussion that has been largely overlooked.

What role, if any, will the 23-year-old's international career play in relation to the decision he takes about his club future, a future which is currently lacking the immediate prospect of Champions League football?

It is an understandable omission from these stories. When newspapers like the Daily Mail are claiming possibly interested parties, like Real Madrid, are preparing bids in the region of £85 million, certain details are going to be left out.

Yet, Bale's potential to achieve with Wales is almost certainly something he is contemplating, and therefore is worthy of consideration.

Compared to many of the world's best footballers, who play for more highly-ranked nations, there is less of a guarantee he will ever play in a major tournament.

Representing your country in friendlies or qualifiers is still an honor, but it does not compare to the pride that comes with doing so at a World Cup or European Championships.

Chris Coleman's side currently sit fourth in World Cup qualifying Group A. Qualification for Brazil 2014 is still mathematically possible, but realistically, is out of the equation.

Bale's presence in the squad, along with other talented young players (including Joe Allen, Ben Davies and Aaron Ramsey) does give Wales some hope for the future.

Should the Spurs star continue his recent progression, he may well develop into a talismanic figure, one genuinely capable of sparking a group of good players into achieving something great.

(There have already been shades of that in some of his notable Tottenham displays of recent seasons. The name-making showings against Internazionale in 2010 and several this past season, spring to mind.)

Even then, Bale's next chance to lead Wales onto the wider international stage will not come until the 2016 European Championships.

He is not the first player outside of the traditional "big two" of the British Home Nations, England and Scotland, to have been in a similar predicament.

Fellow Welshman Ryan Giggs' only experience of an international tournament was at last summer's comparatively minor Olympic Games (representing Great Britain). Northern Ireland's George Best did not even get that opportunity, his career having descended into obscurity long before his country's international heyday of the 1980s.

Those two are particularly pertinent comparisons as, in their respective primes, they were similarly spectacular talents (and of course, the evergreen Giggs is still plowing on). However, they were both enjoying success at club level with Manchester United.

International football is not always enough to placate a player's ambitions anyway.

Fifty-five years ago, another Welsh wing wizard in Cliff Jones, chose to leave hometown club Swansea City for Tottenham in February of that year. Even with the upcoming 1958 World Cup to look forward to, Jones could not turn down a move to a big top-flight club.

For Dimitar Berbatov, it was the international's game ephemeral nature that undermined its ability to fulfill him professionally.

He had represented Bulgaria at Euro 2004. By the time the then 27-year-old decided to leave Tottenham for Manchester United in 2008, Berbatov had realized it was unlikely he would be back at a major tournament anytime soon (he retired from international football in 2010).

Berbatov's experience serves as a reminder that a transfer to a bigger club does not always turn out as expected (the striker has reveled in the greater freedom of life at Fulham, after four pressure-laden years in Manchester.)

Still, how strongly Bale believes in Wales' chance of making an impact on the world stage might similarly influence him.

There are a multitude of reasons why Bale might be happy to stay at Spurs a while yet. However, at some point, whether this summer or later on, it is likely that a thirst for grander competition beyond the Premier League might overpower his loyalty to the North London club.