Bale's immediate concern will be to win the respect of his Real Madrid colleagues, writes Michael Owen.
Gareth Bale will take confidence with him into this new life at Real Madrid but he will have nerves as well. It may only take something small to make him think, yes, I do belong, and then all the memories will come flooding into his mind. All the great goals he scored at Spurs, the difference he made in so many Premier League games.
But as of now - before the kick-off - he has done nothing for Real Madrid, and he has to prove himself. The biggest question mark you have as you sit there in the dressing room, looking around the team, is what the other players will make of you. My first game for Real Madrid was away from home, and did not quite have the magic of the Bernabeu. Bale will be in the same position if he makes his debut at Villarreal.
When you go to a huge club like Real you almost need to convince yourself that you belong in that dressing room. It does not matter whether you cost 85 million pounds, as he did. He will have the odd doubt in his mind, looking around the changing room, staring at the kit he is about to put on; the history of the club, the people he is playing alongside.
Yes, you want the fans to like you and you want the manager to be thrilled you are there, but the most important thing to any player is to have the respect of his team-mates. You want them to rate you as a player, you want them to give you the ball in tight situations, you want them to trust you.
You want them to accept you. If you do not have the respect of the players around you it becomes hard to think straight and train to your best every day. He will be desperate to make a good impression with those Real Madrid players, first and foremost; to feel comfortable around them, to show them one or two flashes that prompt them to think: 'wow, we've got a player here.' He will be desperate to show he belongs there. His fee is a talking point.
His best bet is to be very humble about that aspect of his move. He would be wise to acknowledge that Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world and that he wants to learn from him. But inside he will be thinking: 'I cost all this money, I have to be the best, or, if not, the second best player in this team, consistently'.
If Ronaldo is scoring a goal every game and carrying the team in some matches, then Bale has to get somewhere near that level. The fee will force him to think along those lines, though all he really has to do is continue his form at Tottenham. He knows he is capable of great work because he played to that high standard not for one or two games in North London, but a whole season. He has nothing to worry about so long as he maintains his upward trajectory. His rate of progression has been astounding.
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