Sandro has waxed lyrical about one of his former Tottenham teammates, insisting that he was the best player he has ever shared a dressing room with over the course of his career.
Sandro was part of a star-studded Tottenham Hotspur side filled with world-class players, particularly in his early years under Harry Redknapp.
Ledley King was coming towards the end of his career when the Brazilian was getting started at White Hart Lane, but he also shared a Tottenham dressing room with a young Luka Modric, Kyle Walker and Gareth Bale.
Sandro’s time at the club also overlapped with the likes of Rafael Van der Vaart, Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen and Jermain Defoe.
Sandro admits Gareth Bale was in a league of his own
However, the 36-year-old admits that Bale was in a league of his own, given his ability to not just create opportunities but also finish them off on his own.
The former Spurs midfielder was first asked on Stadium Astro: “Aaron Lennon or Kyle Walker, who wins for pace?”, and he responded: “I don’t know, to be fair, back then at Tottenham, I will say Lennon, but of course, after that Kyle Walker has improved his speed and the way he plays.”
The host then asked: “What if I throw into the same question, Gareth Bale?”, and Sando said: “Oh, Gareth is first, I would say the way Bale could run with the ball and dribble and score and finish the action, without the ball I don’t know, but with the ball, Bale could dribble, finish the action.
“He’s the best player I played with, the best for club and country. I played with Ronaldinho in friendly matches once or twice, a few games and a few training sessions, but Bale was winning games for us, assists, scoring winning goals, amazing.”
Gareth Bale was a machine during his final three seasons at Tottenham
It would be difficult to argue that Modric has not had a better career than Bale overall, simply because of the Croat’s longevity and consistency.
However, at the peak of his powers, the Welshman absolutely terrorised defences and almost single-handedly beat sides.
In his last season at Tottenham under Andre Villas-Boas, Bale arguably scored more worldies than any one player has in a single season, which is why some Spurs fans to this day rate him higher than Harry Kane.