Rafael van der Vaart believes Gareth Bale has made a big mistake leaving the Premier League for Real Madrid and will struggle to justify his world record £86million price tag.
Bale finally completed his transfer from Tottenham to the Bernabeu yesterday, but will have to wait until after the international break to make his Real Madrid debut.
Van der Vaart, who played with the Wales star at Spurs between 2010 and 2012, knows the difficult challenge Bale faces having struggled himself at Madrid the two years before his switch to White Hart Lane.
The Hamburg midfielder admits he does not think his former team-mate is good enough to warrant such a high figure and has a tough task to make his mark in Spain.
The Dutchman said: “€100m (£86m) is a bit much. You should ask yourself if a player is worth that amount at all.
“I’ve played with him but I couldn’t see that he was worth 100 million back then. He did develop quite good, but still he has to prove his worth at Real.
“I know Bale as a very nice and sweet guy so I think he would fit best in England.
“A club like Real Madrid is different and there is a lot of pressure over there. But maybe he can surprise everybody at Real.”
