Following Gareth Bale’s impressive season for Tottenham Hotspur, some sections of the press have compared the Welshman to Cristiano Ronaldo.

When Ronaldo was a year younger than Bale he was tearing apart teams in England and on the continent in that incredible 2007-2008 season. He scored 42 goals in 47 games and was the most important player in that Double winning side.

Whilst Bale is a great player, there’s no way you could suggest that if he played for a team as good as ours in 2008 that he would be the best player. Last season Ronaldo scored 60 goals in 55 games, this season he’s scored 39 goals in 39 games. Last season Bale scored 12 goals in 42 games and this season has scored 19 goals in 31 games.

Rio Ferdinand took to Twitter to dismiss the comparison.

“People mentioning Bale in the same breath as Cristiano + Messi really don’t know football! Bale been 1 of best 2 in PL this year but he is not on CR7 + Messi’s level yet…he carries on doing what he is doing for 2/3yrs then there can be a debate. Bale showed me a clean pair of heals once this year so I’m in good position to judge! CR7 + Messi have been on another planet for 4-5yrs #consistent”

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