Bale aims dig at Arsenal in cheeky swipe over Tottenham's transfer business
Gareth Bale has responded to former teammate Aaron Ramsey after he took a dig at Tottenham over Brennan Johnson's £47.5m move from Nottingham Forest.
Tottenham spent almost half of the £100m Bayern Munich paid them for Harry Kane on Johnson, who completed his transfer on deadline day. The Welsh international impressed last season after making the step up from the Championship, scoring eight goals in 28 Premier League appearances as Forest avoided relegation.
And after featuring in their first three games this season, Johnson joined Spurs prompting his international teammate and ex-Arsenal midfielder Ramsey to admit he 'wished' the forward had not joined the Gunners' north London rivals.
"I wish it weren't to Tottenham," he joked when asked about the move while on duty with Wales. "The potential he has is quite scary and hopefully he can take those next steps and go to the next level.
"He's going to be important for Wales as well. He's going to be huge for us over the years to come and we're all excited that he has another platform to go on and improve himself again."
Mikel Arteta's dream Arsenal line up as last-gasp January transfers are securedHowever, fellow Welsh legend and former Spurs star Bale could not resist aiming a dig of his own at Arsenal when Ramsey's comments were put to him. Asked whether Johnson had joined the right club, Bale told Sky Sports : "For sure. Better than Arsenal!
"He's doing well. I think the more that he plays in the top flight now, the better that he'll get. Like you said, the sky's the limit. As long as he's playing football, improving and doing well, it's good for Tottenham and good for Wales."
Johnson looks set to make his Tottenham debut when they host Sheffield United on Saturday and they will be looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season. And Bale has been hugely impressed by the immediate impact Postecoglou has made at Spurs.
"It's great to see, I think they've got their style back, that's something the club was obviously looking for as well, seeing how he performed at Celtic," he added. "A great start, hopefully there's still more to come from the team.
"They'll obviously just keep getting better and better with the new manager and a new kind of style. Hopefully they can put themselves up there and give themselves a chance."