I did say 'out-of-the-box' thinking..... and unless you can properly substantiate that he would be "a downgrade on any and every level" which he absolutely would not be!! I cannot take the remark seriously Coat's.
In what sense do you see bale as an upgrade on mahrez? Putting aside wages, which i doubt would be any less, footballing wise, mahrez is now the better player, sharper, faster, less injury prone. Perhaps that he is home grown. Which with 5 homegrown players is no help to us at the moment. A downgrade all round.
Not against mahrez being solf for cash, in the slightest, or replaced by another new attacking player. But not bale.