Gareth Bale became the most expensive player in the world when he moved to Real Madrid for €100.8 million in 2013.

The Welshman has enjoyed plenty of success since moving to the Bernabeu, too.

A three-time Champions League winner, one-time La Liga victor and one-time Copa del Rey champion - where he scored a sensational solo goal in the final against Barcelona of all teams - Bale has accomplished plenty in his four years in Spain.

With 55 goals in 103 La Liga games, Bale should be considered a success for Los Blancos, but the former Spurs man still has plenty of detractors in Spain, mainly because of his fitness.

Bale was in and out of the side last season and only managed to play 19 La Liga games en route to the team's first La Liga title in five years.

After suffering multiple injuries, Bale confessed to Spanish outlet El Pais that he took painkillers to return from injury early which ended up causing him greater problems.

"On the one hand, it's easy to say that I should have rested more, but when you've been injured for three months and you see your teammates playing, you really want to get back out there and that's what I did," he said to El Pais via Marca.

"I had to take a lot of painkillers to play and yes, now I think I should have taken more time to recover so I could have played much better and be able to do all those things that I was unable to because of the ankle pain."

After missing more than a month, he returned to action for the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final which was being played in his hometown of Cardiff.

Was he fit? Almost certainly not. But as the flying forward describes, watching the team excel without him and a poetic moment like a Champions League final in Wales played with his mind.

With the likes of Isco and Marco Asensio coming to the fore, Bale might find himself even more frustrated before long.