Spurs sold a broken Bale

Gareth Bale has a slipped disc on the L5 -S1 vertebrae and a bulge on the L4 -L5. This amounts to a significant injury which, at least for the moment, isn't giving him trouble and won't prevent him from playing for the foreseeable future. However, further down the line it may force him off the pitch and, depending on how things progress, may even require surgery.

Real Madrid medical staff diagnosed the injury on 2nd September, the day of his official presentation at the club. The MRI scan left no room for doubt: a slipped disc on the L5 -S1 vertebrae and a bulge, which is the beginnings of another, on L4 -L5. An injury that set alarm bells ringing at the Sanitas clinic in La Moraleja, just outside Madrid, and from where Florentino Pérez was informed of the injury hiding in the former Tottenham player's spine.

Bale said he hadn't noticed any pain at all and claimed he had never had problems in that area before.

There was no going back on the signing. The deal was done and Florentino Pérez, who was now up to speed on Bale's secret, did not object. The € 91million deal was going to go ahead as planned and neither hell nor high water would prevent Bale from running onto the pitch at the Bernabeú in a Nº 11 shirt, in front of a 40,000 strong crowd.

Since he was in no pain, the club chose not to dwell on it. But those who saw that MRI scan know all too well that they may face a very serious problem with the Welsh player at any moment...

Gareth Bale's hernia means the Real Madrid medical staff need to tread carefully. The gap between the lumbar (L5-S1) and Bale's strong musculature, both in the abdominal area and the back, mean the player does not feel discomfort at the moment. However, the medical staff are working meticulously with the Welshman in order to avoid worsening the injury, which could force him into surgery, following in the footsteps of Altintop and Higuaín.

The question is how long he can keep going in this condition. It could be months, years or even his whole career. It is practically impossible to estimate the evolution of Bale's injury.

Real Madrid hopes the player's hernia will not cause him problems, but the club is also well aware that a hernia and a protrusion like those suffered by Bale pose a risk when playing two games per week.

The winger knows the extent of his injury and that he has to keep working on the abdominal and dorsal area to the maximum if he wants to delay the onset of pain to the maximum.

However, it seems the Welshman's injury is not going to keep him out of action for the coming week. Bale continues to train at Valdebebas in order to be fit for the game against Málaga next Saturday and his only aim at the moment is to recover from his thigh injury and regain fitness.

Ancelotti believes he will have Bale at his disposal for the clash against Málaga and, perhaps more importantly, against Barcelona on 26th October.

3. The player Gareth Bale has a small chronic disc bulge, which is extremely common among football players and by no means prevents him from carrying out his professional activity normally. wrote:

Lex wrote:Madrid bought a Ferrari that turned out to be a Fiat with broken suspension

sportsczy wrote:He did pass it... just like Kaka passed it.  The medical report for Kaka showed a herniated groin.  Bale's showed a bulging disc.

It's up to Madrid to call off the deal based on the facts uncovered by the medical exam and we didn't in both cases.

Worse part is that Kaka was 1000000x the international brand that Bale is.... so even though kaka barely played, he still made a lot of money.  No chance of that with Bale.

Flo

Only hope is that Bale is in the minority of pro athletes that are able to avoid a bulging disc becoming eventually herniated.

RealGunner wrote:He'll come fine. Don't worry

halamadrid2 wrote:we bought the wrong spurs player.

Bale shouldn't ignore this last time we had guyz ignoring their problem they didn't play to the best of their ability and still required surgery later which they should have done straight away

halamadrid2 wrote:Bale is a brilliant hard worker. if he wants to become Ronaldo he will realize that athleticm isnt everything.  he will find other means to become better

I never wanted this guy but lets not kick a guy while he is down shall we.