Gareth Bale

[Damanino]

Hope he goes to Real and somehow that will result Isco sitting on the bench a lot.

 

[kiam06]

The hype about Bale is not justified IMO. Hes good no doubt but not 100 million good

If Bale is worth £100m (which he isn't), Agüero is worth £98m.

If Bale is worth 100m then Aguero is worth about 298m and I'm about 20m.

 

[nmc]

Watch Levy drag this out till late August - so he can pocket most of the fee towards the new White Hart Lane. Can we Spurs spending maybe half the fee but I think their wage structure will limit them bringing in too many 'A' listers - and the market will be difficult for them when everyone will know they have a wallet stuffed with cash.

 

[metalblue]

Forgot how many class goals he actually scores. Worth £10m a year IMO.

<a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hHsIzHLctgI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... HsIzHLctgI</a>

And how many shots did he take to score them? Last season he seemed to stop shooting every time he crossed the half way line and started to try and bring others in, season before he would have driven me nuts if I had to watch him week in week out play for us.

A very good player who needs to develop on last season.

 

[Bewar3them00n]

It makes sense for Spurs to cash in on him, double Player of the year, scored a decent amount of goals, flavour of the month.
Spurs, statistically are roughly the same in their win ratio with or without Bale, sell him and buy a few good players, but Levy, being Levy, will make Bale's position untenable, turn the fans against him, and sour his time there, he'd like to leave with a good relationship, but it looks like Levy has put paid to that, is he forcing him to hand in a transfer request? If I were Bale, I'd gladly fore go any bonus payments to play for Real Madrid, if it was "my dream"!

 

[East Level 2]

While it's easy to suggest Spuds accept a mega-bid, they still can't offer CL football to incoming players (though would PL be enough in a World Cup year?). And while they could buy three decent players for the money, could they find three of sufficient quality to get them to fourth place while missing out on CL but having to play EL?
The general consensus is that City, Chels and rags will finish as the top three, with Spuds and Dippers challenging Arse for fourth place. If Arse spend their war chest and Dippers make good use of the huge amount they will get for Suarez then a lot of money could be wasted chasing that final CL place. It's slightly less of an issue for the Dippers as their mega Asian fan base means they can make more than most from selling EL TV rights but it doesn't help attract players fixated by the CL. And if there's a surprise package as Newcastle were a couple of years ago then the problems for over-spenders will increase.

 

[MCFC BOB]

Hope he goes to Real and somehow that will result Isco sitting on the bench a lot.

How bitter.

 

[Impeccable One]

Commercially Spuds should cash in. Bale has been great for the best part of two seasons, but if Spuds keep him and his performance this year isn't another step up then they could lose 50% of his value.

 

[waspish]

Hope he stays at spurs and has a shit season

 

[stony]

Hope he goes to Real and somehow that will result Isco sitting on the bench a lot.

How bitter.

Poor choice of words to a fellow blue, very poor.

 

[johnmc]

Hope he goes to Real and somehow that will result Isco sitting on the bench a lot.

How bitter.

Poor choice of words to a fellow blue, very poor.

Why - is bitter now a banned word. If someone is being bitter call them bitter - dont fret behind a supposed insult from rags. Werent supposed to say massive until we supposedly reclaimed it last year.

 

[stony]

How bitter.

Poor choice of words to a fellow blue, very poor.

Why - is bitter now a banned word. If someone is being bitter call them bitter - dont fret behind a supposed insult from rags. Werent supposed to say massive until we supposedly reclaimed it last year.

Of course it isn't a banned word, don't be ridiculous. However, Its a rag insult and poor form to aim it a blue imo.

 

[Manc in London]

There is far too much chatter in the press for this Bale story to be nonsense. Whether or not he goes is another matter. If I was a Spurs fan, I would want the club to take the money.

Just think, it was not that long ago when Levy was offering Bale to a variety of clubs, including us. A few months later he dragged Spurs to 4th place. One of teh highest league placings they have achieved in over 50 years.

A world record fee for a player who has still not managed to perform consistently well over a full season, not to mention his questionable injury record, is a great deal for Spurs. It’s a silly price when you consider that Suarez may go for around £40m-£50m. IMO Suarez is the better player, and in two seasons has played consistently well.

 

[Anonymous]

There is far too much chatter in the press for this Bale story to be nonsense. Whether or not he goes is another matter. If I was a Spurs fan, I would want the club to take the money.

Just think, it was not that long ago when Levy was offering Bale to a variety of clubs, including us. A few months later he dragged Spurs to 4th place. One of teh highest league placings they have achieved in over 50 years.

A world record fee for a player who has still not managed to perform consistently well over a full season, not to mention his questionable injury record, is a great deal for Spurs. It’s a silly price when you consider that Suarez may go for around £40m-£50m. IMO Suarez is the better player, and in two seasons has played consistently well.

Agree with all of this. I'm finding it hard to believe Levy is turning his nose up at 80 million plus. You would hope AVB would be smart enough to be pushing to sell him and use the money to strengthen their squad. It's a ridiculous amount and they could, along with whatever their budget was for this summer, really make the squad strong enough to challenge for a CL place if they spend wisely.

I also think Bale is too good to miss CL football again this season.

 

[Manchester1894]

Spurs 'SWP' moment really. Sell the player your maybe too heavily reliant on in order to balance out the squad. If they signed Pepe, Concentrao, Di Maria, and say Suarez or Rooney would that get them 4th?

Getting players of that ilk to come without CL football is another problem as someone said earlier.
Love watching this unfold as it must be pissing off a few spuds fans that Levy will drag it to the last day then pocket the fee.

 

[Tez Tosterone]

The Levy/Bale talks scheduled for today should put an end to the speculation once and for all.

What is worrying the Spurs management is that Bale would be the player that AVB is building the team round. If he goes and they acquire Di Maria, Soldado and Coentrao, they will have a fairly formidable lineup for the coming season. However, there will be a settling in period for the club as they will have little time between now and the start of the season to get them into anything like a cohesive unit.

They would certainly be ahead of Liverpool and at least level with Arsenal in terms of getting a Top 4 finish.

Bale, will now leave I'm beginning to think. Player wants to leave....... Club not in a good position when they have a player in that mode of thought.

Whilst Spuds are obviously ambitious in their plans, they look set to go yet another season without lifting the league title.

51 years and counting....

 

[hertsblue]

My mate said that back in 2009 Birmingham were gonna but him for £3million.... Is that right?!

Yes, your mate did say that.

I remember Arry was going to flog him to Forest but Spurs picked up a few injuries and started to play Bale and rest is history

 

[svennis pennis]

My mate said that back in 2009 Birmingham were gonna but him for £3million.... Is that right?!

Yes, your mate did say that.

I remember Arry was going to flog him to Forest but Spurs picked up a few injuries and started to play Bale and rest is history

And also took all the credit for developing him as "a left winger" when the reality was, he was 'daaan to the bare bones' and it was a complete fluke.

So glad the twitching ballsack wont been seen in the premier league this season.

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

Spurs have a real (no pun intended!) problem because Bale not only wants to play for Madrid, but is also, it appears, determined to force through the move, feeling that Spurs have broken promises made to him when he signed his last contract. Levy isn't actually a skilled negotiator: he's simply as stubborn as a mule and this means that he doesn't always get the best deal. As has been said, Di Maria and Coentrao may well want to move to a CL club if they have to leave Real and Spurs could have difficulty in getting "value out of the market" if they have £80 million to spend and only the Europa League to offer.

What evidence have you seen to suggest this? (apart from quotes in Marca that were actually from Modric the year before)

Spurspinter, your point is, of course, a very relevant one because the only evidence I have is "paper talk", not so much Marca yesterday as the Guardian. There is, however, the problem that many articles are simply a rehash of other reports, so that you end up with 20 newspapers simply saying the same thing but being taken as confirmation of each other. It's quite valid to argue that Levy and Bale are not, in fact, meeting at all today since newspapers aren't too scrupulous about accuracy and even less so about the truth. This is why I used the word "appears" to make sure I didn't give the impression of any knowledge. The only "hard" evidence we have of Bale's possible intentions are comments, made back in 2010 I believe, by Bale himself... The rest could be press delusion, which would not be unprecedented. The rest is (my) speculation on the possible/probable attitudes of professional footballers, which is a dangerous game. So, I hope you can keep hold of him, but personally I think the odds are against it. The only "silver lining" is that I don't think he's worth anything near the sums the papers are talking about! But, then again, is there any "hard" evidence Madrid have put in a bid?!

 

[George Hannah]

Spurs have a real (no pun intended!) problem because Bale not only wants to play for Madrid, but is also, it appears, determined to force through the move, feeling that Spurs have broken promises made to him when he signed his last contract. Levy isn't actually a skilled negotiator: he's simply as stubborn as a mule and this means that he doesn't always get the best deal. As has been said, Di Maria and Coentrao may well want to move to a CL club if they have to leave Real and Spurs could have difficulty in getting "value out of the market" if they have £80 million to spend and only the Europa League to offer.

What evidence have you seen to suggest this? (apart from quotes in Marca that were actually from Modric the year before)

Spurspinter, your point is, of course, a very relevant one because the only evidence I have is "paper talk", not so much Marca yesterday as the Guardian. There is, however, the problem that many articles are simply a rehash of other reports, so that you end up with 20 newspapers simply saying the same thing but being taken as confirmation of each other. It's quite valid to argue that Levy and Bale are not, in fact, meeting at all today since newspapers aren't too scrupulous about accuracy and even less so about the truth. This is why I used the word "appears" to make sure I didn't give the impression of any knowledge. The only "hard" evidence we have of Bale's possible intentions are comments, made back in 2010 I believe, by Bale himself... The rest could be press delusion, which would not be unprecedented. The rest is (my) speculation on the possible/probable attitudes of professional footballers, which is a dangerous game. So, I hope you can keep hold of him, but personally I think the odds are against it. The only "silver lining" is that I don't think he's worth anything near the sums the papers are talking about! But, then again, is there any "hard" evidence Madrid have put in a bid?!

Wise words. I think we are entitled to agree with Sky Spanish Expert Mr Hunter, the chances of Bale not being at Madrid when the window closes are currently about 3/10. Not nailed on but the hammer is being raised.