Gareth Bale has insisted that Tottenham Hotspur youngster Joe Rodon will go onto become one of the top defenders in the Premier League.
Rodon joined Tottenham for around £11m from Swansea City last summer.
The Welsh defender only played 14 times for Spurs last season but he impressed when given the chance.
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Along with Bale, Rodon is in the final Wales squad for the European Championships that start this month.
As cited by Wales Online, Bale has praised Rodon, suggesting that he looks to be a “really strong defender” for Spurs:
“It is great we have spent the past year having some good laughs,” Bale said. “Ben [Davies] and I have the experience of 2016 and Joe asks us all the time and he tells us what he was doing when he was watching and that he wanted to be part of a tournament and now he has a chance.
“He has come on leaps and bounds this season, made such a progression in his football, he has got better and better and looks like a real strong defender, sharp, and he is looking better and better.
“He will be one of the top defenders in the Premier League in years to come.
“This is another step in the right direction for him and something he wants to test himself with. I am sure he will do fantastic for us.”
Bale returned to form for Tottenham towards the end of the season as he finished with 16 goals and three assists from his 34 outings. He ended the Premier League campaign with a brace against Leicester City.
The forward has insisted that getting “game-time” was vital to him finding his best form:
“It was great to finish off the season, the last few months, in goal scoring form. I knew that,” he added.
“I think a lot of people knew that. It was just game-time.
“Once I was given the opportunity to keep playing and get my actual Premier League fitness up it felt natural that my form would be back and I’d start scoring.
“No surprise to me, it just needed to happen.”
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