Gareth Bale Has Been Told The Three Surprise Premier League Clubs He Should Have Signed For

Gareth Bale has been told he should have opted for a return to the Premier League as opposed to an "easy life" playing in the MLS with Los Angeles FC.

The Wales star has penned an initial 12-month contract with LAFC, with the option of extending his stay until 2024.

After his contract with Real Madrid expired, he joins Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini in moving to LA on a free transfer and could make his debut in the derby against LA Galaxy on July 8.

There were strong links to home-city club Cardiff but Bale, 32, ultimately decided to move across the pond ahead of the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

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But former Liverpool and Aston Villa forward Stan Collymore is disappointed he didn't choose a side like Crystal Palace, Brentford or Brighton and have a second crack at England's top tier.

In his column for The Mirror, Collymore wrote: “I’m sure he sat down and thought, ‘Look, going to play full-on at Cardiff against a load of Championship opponents who all want a piece of me or Brentford where they may lose more games than they win, LA instead seems a good halfway house’.

"But I can’t help thinking a player who has won what he has could at least have looked at a Crystal Palace, Brentford or Brighton and said, ‘I still have something to give and I want to show the Premier League what it is’.

"It didn’t even have to be the Premier League, he could have gone to Marseille or Borussia Dortmund.

"But it will be a cameo in LA now to keep ticking over and, like some of the decisions he has made, such as the China one which fell through, playing as high as he can as regularly as he can now seems anathema to Bale. He could have done it at a higher level and maybe should have done, but perhaps he just wants a little more of the easy life in Los Angeles enjoying their sunshine-filled and plentiful golf courses.”

Bale, who has reportedly taken a whopping £27.5 million pay cut, will not be taking up one of the designated player spots and so one space will remain open for LAFC, who lead the way in the Supporters' Shield table.

Bizarrely, because of a strange ruling, LAFC must pay David Beckham's Inter Miami £40,000 to remove him from their "Discovery list".

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MLS rules stipulate clubs can include up to seven players who they are interested in signing and are not yet under contract with MLS on their own 'discovery list'. Bale was on Inter's list and so the payment must be made.

At Real, Bale won five Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles, scoring 106 goals after joining in a then world record deal from Spurs in 2013.