Michael Dawson believes that he played with one of the greatest players of the modern era during his time at Tottenham Hotspur.
Dawson may not have been the most naturally talented centre-back, especially compared with some of his former Tottenham teammates, such as Ledley King or Jonathan Woodgate.
However, the Englishman was a fan favourite at White Hart Lane as his commitment was second to none, and he was a real leader on the pitch.
The centre-back spent nine seasons at Tottenham, making 324 appearances for the club, and he played alongside several world-class players, but he admits one was head and shoulders above the rest.
Michael Dawson is a big fan of Gareth Bale
Dawson saw Gareth Bale’s rise from an injury-prone and inconsistent left-back to one of the best attacking players in the world from close quarters.
The 42-year-old insisted that his former Tottenham teammate hit the same levels as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at his peak.
Dawson told BetMGM: “Playing for an amazing football club like Tottenham, you are very fortunate to share a pitch with some incredible players, but if I had to pick one that really stood out to me, it would be Gareth Bale.
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“I only played with him for a short space of time, but what he went on to achieve at Real Madrid and some of the things he did when he got into the team under Harry [Redknapp] were amazing.
“He was a world-class footballer and for me he was in the [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo bracket. It wasn’t for as long as the other two, but Gareth was a superstar who could win you a game like you were playing in the park on a Sunday morning.
“Exceptionally talented players don’t come around very often, and I was always of the belief that if they are of that sort of level, they carry their teammates forward, and he did that countless times.
“It was no real surprise what he did in England to me, it was how he was going to adapt in Spain. The trophies he won in his time there speak for themselves.”
Why Bale cannot be compared to Ronaldo and Messi
Bale was an athletic freak, possessed a wand of a left foot and was a clutch player, who would put his hands up in big moments.
One can argue that the Spurs legend hit almost the same levels as Ronaldo for a couple of seasons, including his final season at Tottenham under Andre Villas-Boas, who gave him a free role.
However, if they put their bias aside, most Spurs fans will admit that Bale belongs to the tier below Ronaldo and Messi, alongside the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Mohammed Salah and a few others.
Messi and Ronaldo are in a league of their own, and their sheer longevity at the top of the game cannot be matched by any other player in the modern era.