Everton actually had the chance to sign Gareth Bale during his first spell at Tottenham Hotspur, but David Moyes turned the deal down.
Gareth Bale is widely regarded as one of the best footballers Britain has ever produced, as he was a world class winger for several years.
Bale won five Champions League titles with Real Madrid, and scored perhaps the best goal in the competition’s history against Liverpool in the 2018 final.
The Welshman was probably the best player in the Premier League before he left for a world-record £85m fee in 2013.
That makes it all the more painful that Everton actually could’ve signed him in a swap deal years before that.
Everton had the chance to swap Leighton Baines for Gareth Bale
Speaking to Sky Sports in 2020, former Everton defender Joleon Lescott reflected on the time when David Moyes turned down the chance to sign a young Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur.
“I remember that time, it was around when he (Bale) was getting stick for his first 20 appearances or something like that ending in a loss,” Lescott explained.
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“Coming in after the game (against Spurs), Bainesy, who I was really close with, we were talking, and Harry Redknapp wanted to swap them.
“He pulled Baines to one side, had a conversation with him, so I asked ‘What was going on there?’
“He said they were interested in doing a swap for Bale.
“One of the main reasons that didn’t happen was because Bale’s record was so bad and David Moyes didn’t want to swap.”
To be fair to Moyes, very few would’ve predicted Bale to become the player he did at that time, as he was a left-back who was really struggling.
Meanwhile, Baines was an established top Premier League full-back, so there is important context around it.
Leighton Baines became an Everton legend
So, had Moyes accepted the swap deal, Baines would’ve become a Tottenham player, which is hard to imagine.
The left-back wouldn’t have then become a club legend at Everton, so it’s all swings and roundabouts really.
Baines ended up playing a whopping 420 times for the Toffees and collected a commendable 30 caps with England.
Baines is now part of Moyes’ coaching staff, and Steven Naismith previously said he plays a really important role behind the scenes.
“Bainesy is somebody who wants to make sure he’s making the right choice, and then when he’s done it, you do see his knowledge and his understanding,” Naismith told Everton’s website in April.
“I think the way he sees the game is different, and the way he teaches it. Even when I was playing with him, the way he would describe different situations, he delivered it in a different, really clear way.
“I know, 100 per cent, he will have helped the Academy players that he was dealing with, and now that he’s stepped up, it will be the same for the senior players as well because he’s very good.”
So, even though Everton missed out on signing Bale, they still benefited greatly from keeping Baines at the club for many years.