Bale admits he was a fan of Arsenal stars Henry and Bergkamp growing up

Gareth Bale risked the wrath of Tottenham supporters as he revealed he enjoyed watching Arsenal growing up.

The Real Madrid attacker became the latest big name to take a stroll down memory lane in BT Sport's What I Wore series.

Reflecting on his career to date, the Welshman opened up on his appreciation for Arsenal icons Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp as he developed his game as a youngster.

Bale announced himself at the top of the game in a Tottenham shirt but while holding an Arsenal shirt with Henry emblazoned across the back, admitted he watched the Frenchman closely in his early days.

'I used to watch Arsenal a lot and I really enjoyed watching people like (Thierry) Henry,' he said.

'I used to like watching Dennis Bergkamp as well. They had a great team – Tottenham fans won't be happy that I am holding this!'

The 29-year-old's early memories come from growing up in Wales in the 1990s and while Henry and Bergkamp were enjoyable to watch, Ryan Giggs - now his national team boss - provided one of his biggest influences.

Shown the jersey Giggs wore during the 1999 season -notably the shirt he wore against Arsenal in the famous FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park - Bale could not speak highly enough of a player he based his game on.

He said: 'He was a massive influence – he was my hero growing up! Obviously being Welsh, left-footed and I looked up to him a lot.

'I used to enjoy watching him play and obviously now he is my manager! Like all kids do they want to be a player and I used to shout that I was Giggs. I didn't have quite the hairy chest…'

But asked whether he is a better player than Giggs was, Bale sensibly decided he would leave that up to football fans.

Bale has seen his career sky-rocket having gone from Southampton's academy to a three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid.