GETTY McManaman is one of the most successful British footballers to have moved abroad

I needed to say ‘is this duck?’ and make duck noises and flap my arms around Steve McManaman, ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid

A crueller wit might have suggested that Steve McManaman could have brought his Liverpudlian accent to London if that's what he was after. In fact, in 1999 McManaman swapped Liverpool for Madrid, one of a relatively small number of English footballers to fly overseas in search of sun, sand and trophies. But few have found it an improvement. Ian Rush suggested that playing for Juventus was 'like playing in a foreign country' while Luther Blisset apparently failed to settle in Italy because he couldn't find Coco Pops in the local shops.

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But what is the unique formula? What is the secret? And why do so many leave these shores and come back a year later with stories of strange food and dodgy pitches? "Firstly you have to look at the quality of player who goes abroad," McManaman added, leaving little doubt about his admiration for Bale's talent. "Then there's the fact that, knowing Spain and knowing other leagues, the Premier League is probably the best, most professional league.

"Here you get paid on time and you get looked after really well, as well as your partner and children. "The clubs in England will make sure you are settled and integrated as soon and as easy as possible. "There’s only a certain number of clubs across Europe where you can get those kind of benefits and they tend to be the biggest: Madrid, Barcelona, Milan possibly now, Bayern Munich. "But if you’re not going to those teams then you’re probably better off, happier and better paid in England.

"If you have to take your children out of school and your wife has to learn the language and is on her own a lot then it’s much better to stay in England. "That’s why everybody wants to come to play in the Premier League." Before Bale left the paradise of the Premier League in 2013, McManaman did some filming with the Welshman with the two talking about life in Spain. The contrast between their characters was stark. Here was McManaman, with his swept-back golden hair and comfort in yacht-casual style, chatting easily on camera to a man years his junior like they were old friends looking out over the bay. On the other hand there's Bale: a classically under-socialised workaholic, the epitome of the modern footballer, grinning inanely at the size of his deal and the chance to live out the childhood dream that has dominated every second of his waking life since the age of six.

But both hit success in Spain. Both are champions of Europe in a white shirt. Both have adopted distinctly continental hairstyles. "You have to throw yourself into the Spanish culture and it’s getting harder because now all those positives that I’ve just mentioned about the modern club - the efforts they make to settle you in - they become negatives," McManaman said. "Now if you go and sign for Real Madrid or Barcelona you’ll get a translator and 27 people doing everything that you need and want. "So you don’t end up in those situations where you don’t know what you’re doing. "But the best thing for me was to be put in those situations.

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"I needed to go to restaurants with my wife and for somebody not to understand what I was saying. "I needed to say ‘is this duck?’ and make duck noises and flap my arms around. Then I’d think what an idiot I was and that I needed to learn the language as quickly as possible." The image of McManaman, off whose tongue Spanish names and words bounce like a well-struck volley, attempting to order duck in a restaurant by flapping his arms is a comical one. The idea of Bale having to do the same is beyond comprehension: his translator, or his iPhone, or his English-speaking Madrid-supporting doting waiter would fill the gap where McManaman's acting previously had to. Cristiano Ronaldo recently claimed that he, Bale and Karim Benzema don't need to have dinner together to play well, as Barcelona stars Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez are said to do.

GETTY McManaman was a League Cup winner in England, but amassed medals galore in Spain