Why Gareth Bale wants to go from icon to investor

Why Gareth Bale wants to go from icon to investorImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Gareth Bale scored 41 goals in 111 caps for Wales, retiring after the 2022 World CupByChris WathanBBC Sport WalesPublished2 minutes agoCommentsIt was a question Gareth Bale faced as soon as he left the pitch at the last World Cup.Four years on, the Wales great has found his answer to what happens next.The tournament in Qatar proved to be Bale's final moments as a player having achieved pretty much everything he had put his mind to.Granted, the group stage exit in the Middle East wasn't part of the plan, but being an integral part of his nation's first World Cup appearance in 64 years felt like the final ambition met.Never truly one for the limelight or courting the media, it could have been easy – and easily understood – if Bale wanted to stay in the background and simply enjoy the fruits of a club career that saw him lift the Champions League five times in a nine-year spell at Real Madrid.But ambition, it seems, still burns.Bale is now part of a US-based investment vehicle that could yet see him join a growing list of former players getting a taste of club ownership.Previously linked with hometown club Cardiff City – as well as League One Plymouth Argyle – the sports fund he has joined has made contact with a number of clubs as they weigh up next moves.Bale's new goal may take time, but it is to be taken seriously."I was always somebody who was going to try loads of different things," Bale tells BBC Sport Wales."I didn't know, ultimately, what I wanted to do after football."Everybody jokes that I'd just play plenty of golf – which of course I'm going to do – but I've tried punditry, I've done commercial stuff, this, that and the other."I've enjoyed it, but this has really excited me and the first to really get the juices flowing about what the future could hold."Bale more 'complete' than...