Gareth Bale became a father for the first time recently but in a lot of ways he should probably be used to the added responsibility – not to mention the sensation of his world changing overnight. Since that iconic performance against Inter Milan in the 2010 UEFA Champions League at the San Siro where in just ninety minutes he transformed himself into one of Europe’s most sought-after superstars, the Welshman has shouldered more and more responsibility for Spurs.

Bought in 2007 from Southampton as a left back with a knack for exquisite set pieces and galloping dashes up and down the touchline, Bale has recently been filling in as a central midfielder in the absence of the recently departed Luka Modric and Rafael Van Der Vaart. It’s not his first reinvention, having been ushered into a more attacking role on the wing by former coach Harry Redknapp over the previous two seasons, but it’s certainly his most dramatic – and telling of a new, more mature player.

There’s an argument to be made that the 23-year-old has always had his head firmly screwed on his shoulders and that’s true – after all, when the likes of Real Madrid, Inter and Barcelona all enquired as to his availability following his feats in 2010-11, he was level-headed enough to sense he was better off for now at a club where he was near-guaranteed first team football and more able to develop his talents. But on the pitch, his displays this season have pointed to a more well-rounded player who is adapting to life as one of the most tightly marked players in the Premier League.

“Since people have been double marking and triple marking me, it is something I have had to bring into my game,” he told reporters late last year. “I’m happy to contribute and just be wherever the boss needs me.” This readiness to buckle down for the team in whatever position coach Andre Villas-Boas most needs him is part and parcel of the Welshman’s coming of age – he’s as happy doing the gritty work of a centre mid as he is getting the White Hart Lane faithful on their feet by speeding past defenders.

Already this season Bale, now Spurs’ chief creative player, has engineered the club’s first win at Old Trafford in 23 years (before he was born), recorded four goals and three assists, has a shots to goals ratio of 8.8 and last month scored twice to give Wales their first win under new manager Chris Coleman against Scotland.

Echoing Cristiano Ronaldo who in his coming of age season at Manchester United in 2007-08 played in numerous different positions, the Welshman has been deployed as a playmaker, on the wing and in a deeper lying role at various times so far in 2012-13. Harry Redknapp claims the new Bale is every bit as good as Ronaldo and Leo Messi. "He's almost unplayable when he's on his game. He is a genuine world-class player. There's nobody he couldn't play for. He'd improve any team.”

Spurs, who face champions Manchester City in what promises to be an intriguing tie this weekend, will be hoping their Welsh wonder is going nowhere.

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You might have noticed at Icons we deal only in the world's best. From Eric Cantona to the unstoppable Leo Messi, we work with legends of the game both old and new. But what about the names fans will be chanting in five years time?

Ever keen to spot rising talent, the Icons team were present as Spurs hosted Barcelona in an U19s showcase as part of the excellent NextGen series. In front of a crowd of almost 9,000, the next wave of Catalan talent scored twice to defeat an outclassed Tottenham team. Here are three that caught our eye who may just be the pride of the terraces in years to come...

Sergei Samper - Barcelona

17-year-old Samper came into the game as one of the more reputable names on the Barcelona teamsheet having attracted the attention of Arsenal and Manchester City in recent months. He didn't disappoint, dictating the play from his holding position in the Barca midfield. In a match that offered more long ball than you'd expect from two clubs famed for their fluid free-passing football, Samper soon grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck to turn the put things in Barcelona's favour. His role as passmaster at the epicentre of the Catalan team drew comparisons in the crowd to Xavi but his ragged running style, firmness and organisational talents reminded us of a more creative Puyol type. Definitely one to watch.

Souleymane Coulibaly - Spurs

One of many sparks in a Spurs team that started brightly before fading, 17-year-old Ivorian Souleymane Coulibaly was a constant threat until his 66th minute substitution, the variety of his approaches to goal causing all sorts of problems for the Barcelona defence. He might not have quite the target with his audacious first half overhead kick from 30 yards, but that he was willing to try pulled the White Hart Lane crowd to its feet. Interestingly, there were glimpses in Coulibaly's play of precisely the striker their first squad are lacking. Might we see him figure in Andre Villas-Boas' team sooner rather than later?

Sandro - Barcelona

Two goals from zippy focal point of Barcelona's attack sealed the win for the Catalan club and spelt out his class to the White Hart Lane crowd. A classic number 9, his performance was more predatory and direct than Barcelona forwards are traditionally known for. The first of his goals, a glancing finish from an Adama cross, hinted at an instinctive nature in front of goal that could come in useful for Barca, before netting a second with a calm strike past Spurs keeper Lawrence Vigouroux from inside the box as Spurs began to unravel. There's more to come from this one.

Which young players do you tip to become future Icons of the game? Let us know on Twitter: @icons_football or on Facebook.

This week at Icons, we held our first exclusive signing session with Tottenham star Gareth Bale. Recently valued at an astonishing £150million by his club, the sensational Welsh winger is one of the hottest properties in football. And in the week he was voted the only British representative in the UEFA.com team of 2011, we are delighted to add the PFA Player of the Year to our prestigious roster of the world’s best players. View our full range of signed Gareth Bale products here, and read on to find out more about our signing together.

A team of three Icons employees went to meet Gareth on Wednesday January 25. In a van loaded with shirts, boots, photos and cameras, we departed Icons’ North London headquarters at midday. The location for our meeting was a conference room in a hotel in Chigwell, Essex, just a stone’s throw from Spurs’ training ground. It was in this hotel that Gareth first lodged after arriving from Southampton as a 17-year-old back in May 2007. He returns - four-and-a-half years later - as one of the world's best players.

Gareth was coming directly from training, where he had been preparing with the rest of the squad for Spurs' FA Cup tie against Watford on Friday night. His agent was first to join us at the hotel, and was soon informed via text message that Gareth would be arriving shortly after some routine physio work. He pulled up at 3pm, and after a friendly greeting and a round of handshakes, he sat down to begin the signing process. Gareth began by signing shirts (pictured below), before moving on to boots and finally photos of him in action.

Personable and relaxed, Gareth was a pleasure to work with. Despite a meteoric rise that has taken him from bit-part squad player to one of the world's elite at the tender age of 22, his feet remain firmly on the ground. Gareth's scintillating performances against then European champions Inter Milan in Spurs' 2010/11 Champions League campaign propelled him onto the world stage, but he is completely unaffected by stardom. Gareth was more than happy to chat all things football throughout the session. He took time and care over every signature, and was patient and professional from start to finish.

The session lasted just over an hour, and after one last round of photos, Gareth and his agent were on their way. We were left to reflect on a good day's work, and head back to the office to get the products online for our customers.

Gareth is pictured here with Dan and Nick, two members of the Icons team.

To view Icons full collection of signed Gareth Bale products, click here

And for the latest news on all our signings, follow Icons on Twitter @icons_football

With grace and skill in abundance, Glenn Hoddle was a wonderfully gifted playmaker and, in many ways, an atypical English midfielder. Icons Legend of the Week #13 was an inspiration to a generation of players for whom technique was more important than the ability to run all day.

Voted Tottenham Hotspur's greatest player of all time, Hoddle was a sublime passer and a beautiful player to watch. After 12 glowing years, close to 500 appearances and 88 league goals for Spurs he moved for a spell at French side Monaco, before becoming player-manager at Swindon Town and later Chelsea. He hung up his boots in 1995 and went on to become England manager in 1996.

Hoddle joined Spurs as a schoolboy apprentice in April 1974 following a recommendation from another Spurs legend, Martin Chivers. He made his first team debut as a 17-year-old, coming off the bench against Norwich City in August 1875, but it wasn't until February 1976 that he made his first start in the First Division. He announced his arrival in sensational style, beating Stoke and England goalkeeper Peter Shilton with an outstanding long-range effort.

The 1979/80 season heralded Hoddle's emergence as a truly top-class player. With 19 goals in 41 league games he was deservedly named PFA Young Player of the Year. His breathtaking skill, vision and eye for the spectacular were at odds with the traditional British philosophy of tireless running and gutsy determination, but in Hoddle Spurs had unearthed a gem. Equally adept with both feet, as a youngster, Hoddle was used in the centre of midfield and on the wing. He went on to make the central birth his own.

Hoddle was the midfield fulcrum and creative hub of Spurs' great side of the 1980s. In 1981 he starred in Spurs sixth FA Cup win, scoring in the Final and in the Final replay against Manchester City. The following year Spurs retained the FA Cup with victory over Queens Park Rangers and secured 4^th place, their highest league finish since 1971. Two years later, Hoddle was the driving force behind Spurs' 1984 UEFA Cup triumph, despite missing the final due to injury. He put in a particularly memorable performance in their 6-2 Second Round aggregate win against a Feyenoord side featuring Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. Cruyff was so impressed by Hoddle's showing that he went into the Spurs dressing room at White Hart Lane to offer him his shirt after the match.

By this time Hoddle was already an established England international, and before his move to Monaco in 1987 he had already won 44 caps and featured prominently in the World Cups and European Championships of the 1980s. In total he won 53 caps and scored eight goals during an international career that lasted until 1988.

Then Monaco manager Arsene Wenger was the man who took Hoddle across the channel to France. Ironically, the two would come up against each other in the North London derby as managers of Spurs and Arsenal some years later. Hoddle scored 27 goals in 69 Ligue 1 games for Monaco. He inspired them to a title-win in his first season and was voted the Best Foreign Player in French Football. His exploits with Monaco helped to significantly improve the standing of English players in foreign countries.

Hoddle has found himself at the centre of stormy controversies on occasion, and as a manager he never enjoyed the greatest success. But putting all that aside, his on-pitch achievements at Tottenham and Monaco demand not to be forgotten. Hoddle was the most technically gifted English player of his generation, and his exciting and attractive style made him a rare breed. At a time when Fabio Capello's England are being left behind by a supremely technical Spain side, they could use a few more players like Glenn Hoddle. 

For a country that only played its first World Cup qualifier in 2000 and is perhaps best known in these parts as the home of Timbuktu, the list of footballers from Mali (or of Malian descent) is long and surprisingly impressive.

The current squad is bolstered by the presence of Momo Sissoko (Juventus), Seydou Keita (Barcelona) and Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid). French football legend and former Fulham manager Jean Tigana was born in the capital city, Bamako and Salif Keita, formerly of Valencia, Marseille and Saint Etienne, is considered to be one of the greatest African players of all time.

But their most celebrated son of the modern era was born to Malian parents in Lyon, in the south of France. Despite representing France at youth levels, though, there can be no doubting which nation Frédéric Kanouté considers home. He opted to turn out for Mali rather than France in 2004, going on to top score in that year's African Cup of Nations.

His goalscoring record for the national side was better than one in two (meeting the Football Ramble's golden ratio for a top striker), but it's Kanouté's club career in England and Spain for which he'll be best remembered.

His spell with hometown club Lyon was relatively forgettable, but earned him an initial loan spell in London with West Ham which then manager Harry Redknapp quickly made permanent.

As they watched Carlton Cole and Franck Nouble lumbering about up top last season, Hammers fans must've been yearning for the days when Kanouté partnered Paolo Di Canio at the Boleyn Ground. But nostalgia can be misleading. Despite Kanouté consistently finding the back of the net, he was unable to stop his side slipping out of the top flight.

Frédi jumped ship for Tottenham, where he joined fellow recruits Helder Postiga, Robbie Keane and Bobby Zamora as part of a new look strikeforce at White Hart Lane. Only he and Keane could be considered successes, though. His return for Spurs was solid, but his lackadaisical stylings were often construed as laziness.

His decision to attend the African Nations Cup in 2004, earned the ire of the Spurs faithful, too, who berated him with the chant "you're French, and you know you are." It was the beginning of the end for Kanouté in England. His form dipped and just as his career looked to be on the slide, his finest performances were yet to come.

A move to Spain rejuvenated Kanouté. With Sevilla, he has hit double figures in all but his début season at the club (2005-06) and established himself as one of the most consistent strikers in La Liga. 

He was a member of Juande Ramos' double UEFA Cup winning squad and has hit well over a century of goals for the Andalusians. As he reaches the twilight of his career, a move to the Middle East has been mooted (which would certainly make sense on a personal level), but Sevilla have publicly stated their desire to keep hold of their man.

Kanouté is a devout Muslim. He hit the headlines when he refused to don the Sevilla shirt because of their sponsorship deal with a betting firm. He regularly takes time out of training to pray and donated £700,000 of his own money to buy a mosque in Sevilla.

As a representative of the Islamic community, an ambassador for African football and a striker who has scored goals at the top level in three countries for almost 15 years, Frédéric Kanouté is Icons' first forward for Friday.

We're delighted to add Kanouté products to our collection for the first time this week, you can view them here.

Icons has had a long-standing relationship with the good people at FourFourTwo, in the old days we used to supply them with editorial content now we're supply them with fantastic signed football memorabilia.

This month they're doing a feature on the contenders for the Champions League places - Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City and Spurs so we're giving away prizes of signed stuff from great player, past and present of these clubs. Check out the competition here and go and buy your copy of FourFourTwo today.