ESPN put out a blurb today saying something to the effect that since Ancellotti "had made it his first point of business" to offer Cash + DiMaria to Spurs for Bale, it is "uncertain as to whether the club can continue to resist Real's advances." Why? If he has multi-years left on his deal, why can't Levy tell Perez to take his cash, Modric, Zidane, "born to play for", tapping up and outright tampering and tell him to go choke on the lot of them? Over in Europe, is it simply a matter of Madrid cajoling Bale into putting in a transfer request nullifying his contract or something? Completely foreign to me........and absolutely outlandish. How are any teams but about 10 in the world ever allowed to compete for anything over there?
In part, it is near inevitable that Bale will move. Spurs do not have enough income to be able to turn down a massive offer, and it is known that Spurs have a wage structure that cannot accommodate what Real can provide. So far, this is all conjecture and Bale is not moving.
It is near inevitable that a massive offer will come (save sudden reversal of Bale's form). But, it is not inevitable that Bale will take the massive offer. I say this over and over: Not every player actually desires to play for the top 10 clubs in the world, that the money is not the deciding thing for them. Bale may actually believe he can be the player to draw talent and international popularity to Spurs sufficient to make the club part of the top club of clubs. He may consider that a legacy worthy of his talent.
Hi Striker The Bosman ruling puts much more power in the hands of players. Before that, you would be right, a club could resist indefinitely approaches for their players. Levy has gotten a rep for being one of the more resistant even now. but if a player wants to move on to somewhere bigger, as most do, eventually the pendulum swings in the player's favor. Clubs realize they have to cash in their want-away asset before the end of their contract, at which time they get nothing.
Eh, I wouldn't count on it. Bale will leave eventually, even if we make it to the Champions League final and win the league. Look at Dortmund, you think their success would be enough to keep their top players but it wasn't.
I know I'm speaking from a position of hope when it comes to Bale... Hope is better than despair, which is how I read the continual refrain that Bale simply must go where the money is and the big clubs would love to have him. Of course, this is all coming from the media that needs page hits and papers purchased. It is easy enough for them to find an official of some level or another at any big club that, when asked, "If Bale wanted to come to [your club] wouldn't you love to have him?" says, "Oh, yes, we'd spend big bucks, maybe the biggest bucks ever spent for a transfer for that amazing player." Every club with remotely the capability of paying the $$ would be willing to say that. Talking about is is just useless worry, which, as my grandmother used to say, is "interest paid on a debt not yet incurred." My grandmother was very smart.
Well, that is the question: is Bale more interested in personal glory or being the center of team/club build around him. He may know he is the big fish in the pond and likes that. He also may know that if he goes elsewhere, he won't be the only big fish in the pond.
Yea but he has gone on record saying he wants to play outside of the UK one day. Being the big fish in the little pond wont give him as much glory if he can make it at a big big club. I'm hopeful he will stay for a while, i think he will at least too but i think its very wishful thinking he will be at Spurs in 4 yrs from now. I can't think of any clubs holding onto a world class player of his ability that weren't the traditional powerhouses...
I think we got 2 years of Bale left. We will qualify for CL this season and he will give Spurs one more year to give it a go in 2014/15. Then, he will see that he can leave us in a great position and not reeling and really be able to cash in on his transfer.
we've put a huge (by our standards) offer on the table for bale. if he doesn't sign it, there's no way we get more than one year out of him - even if he was game. levy'd sell before he'd let 10+m of bale's contract's value drop.
Maybe I'm just a pragmatist... but sell him and invest wisely. If numbers being thrown around are to be taken seriously, there's no way he's worth the money Real would pay, and his value won't get any higher. We could build a world class attacking line with that type of money... Not to mention (and knock on wood) the way he's targeted, he's going to get a serious injury at some point.
imo that is the main attraction of playing in La Liga for Bale (the money is nice too of course) - the refs there will protect him.