Bale: 'I Had A Little Chat With Woodburn … He's Welsh And He's Ours'

Gareth Bale has revealed he played a role in convincing Ben Woodburn to pledge allegiance to Wales and reject advances by England.
Bale met Woodburn at a friendly against Holland in November 2015 and helped persuade the young Liverpool forward to stick with Wales.
Woodburn announced his ability to the international community with a stunning goal four minutes into his Wales debut to defeat Austria, and is likely to feature against Moldova on Monday in another must-win game on the road to Russia 2018.
In recent seasons England have tried to tempt a defection from Woodburn, who was born in Nottingham to English parents, but the 17-year-old has repeatedly committed himself to the Welsh cause.
Raised in the border city of Chester and with a close bond to his Welsh grandfather, Woodburn was first involved at youth level in May 2013 and is now aiming to help his country reach next year’s World Cup.
Bale, who himself turned down advances by England as a teenager, said: ‘I remember meeting him. I was injured for the Holland game and he sat in the box next to me because we’re in the same agency, Stellar.
‘I had a little chat with him, and obviously I wanted to get him on board because we knew he was a great player. He’s a typical winger, likes to take on a player, likes to shoot, likes to cross. We’re delighted to have him. He’s Welsh anyway, so he’s ours.’ 
But Bale, 28, added a cautionary note: ‘I’ve been in his position before, as youngster it’s a lot to come in. So we don’t want to put pressure on shoulders.
‘I know he’s scored a great goal and done great on his debut, but we want him to feel comfortable. Put the pressure on us – we have the experience to deal with it and we can guide him.’ 
The Real Madrid forward continued: ‘We haven’t had to have a word with him. He’ s a good lad and doesn’t need to be looked after in that respect. He knows it was a great goal and knows what he did was amazing for us all. He’s just got his head down, he’s a quiet lad and got on with it.
‘I know he won’t get too carried away. And I’m sure if he does we’ll all let him know! He’s been great since he’s came in, he’s worked hard and when you do that you get the rewards and we’re all happy for him.
‘It’s the next generation that are coming through and if they can help us while we’re still here then fantastic. That’s what we need from everyone coming through.
‘We don’t want them to be shy, we want them to show their ability. We want to make them feel welcome, have fun with them. We’re not a big nation and when good players come along we want them to produce and perform well.’