Gareth Bale: Real Madrid forward joins list of successful British & Irish abroad

Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid from Spurs for £85m in 2013

On Sunday, Gareth Bale became the leading British goalscorer in La Liga history.

The 26-year-old Real Madrid forward scored his 43rd league goal to surpass the record previously held by former England and Barcelona striker Gary Lineker.

Bale joins these famous names as the most prolific British and Irish players in Europe's biggest leagues:

Italy - John Charles

John Charles won three championships and the Italian cup during his time with Juventus

Swansea-born John Charles played for Leeds United between 1948 and 1957 before becoming one of the first British players to secure a move abroad.

Charles joined Juventus for a then-record £65,000 transfer fee and the centre-forward went on to score 108 goals in 155 appearances for the Italian Serie A club.

The Wales international netted four goals in 10 games during a brief spell with Roma.

In 1997, seven years before his death at the age of 72, Charles was voted the best-ever foreigner to play for Juventus.

France - Tony Cascarino

Tony Cascarino spent six years playing in France's Ligue 1 and 2

Tony Cascarino proved his goalscoring prowess for Gillingham, Millwall, Aston Villa, Celtic and Chelsea before taking his talents over to France.

The Kent-born Republic of Ireland international joined Marseille in 1994 and scored 70 goals in three seasons with the club, helping them back to the top flight.

A move to AS Nancy-Lorraine followed in 1997, and he added 45 goals to his personal tally.

Germany - Tony Woodcock

Tony Woodcock made 42 appearances for England

Striker Tony Woodcock was part of Brian Clough's legendary Nottingham Forest team who won the First Division title, League Cup and European Cup in the 1970s.

He had just been named PFA young player of the year when he was tempted away from his hometown club on a then-record £600,000 transfer to Bundesliga side Cologne.

He scored 44 goals during his seven years in the German leagues, which came either side of a spell with Arsenal.

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