Gareth Bale transfer saga

"I'm happy with what I have, why talk about Bale if Morata and Jese played so well today," he told reporters. "I'm very happy about them, they're very young but they have great ability. The team was tired but the game had been very good."

lszanto wrote:Don't get why they wouldn't go for Suarez over Bale. He's better and half the price.

donttreadonred wrote:

lszanto wrote:Don't get why they wouldn't go for Suarez over Bale. He's better and half the price.

Marketability...

Think about it. Bale plays in one of Ronaldo, Ozil, or Isco's (assuming he plays on the right) positions. They don't really need him to come in. They have plenty of quality in those three areas. Bale certainly has the potential to be one of the best in the world at his position. However, so do each of those three. Suarez, on the other hand, plays in a position in which they are short-handed and could stand to upgrade.

The difference between the two players is their public image/persona. Bale is viewed as the up-and-coming superstar: clean-cut, exciting to watch, and doesn't attract much controversy. Suarez has spent the better part of the last two years playing the pantomime villain: complaining to refs, winding up the opposition, and developing a taste for Serbian CBs. Real has spent the last few years playing the "bad guy" to an extent under Mourinho's prickly public persona (the eye-gauging can't have helped...). They will want to avoid furthering that impresion. Bale can help them do that, as well as continue the Galactico's aura that surrounds the club. Suarez may help them win on the pitch, but that is it.

chad4401 wrote:As long as no one is expecting cr7 like performances week in and out this season he should be ok, too bad his price won't allow that

lszanto wrote:Don't get why they wouldn't go for Suarez over Bale. He's better and half the price.

Madrid’s huge debts have led many to question whether the move -- which the Daily Telegraph believes would cost £200 million in transfer fee and wages -- makes sense.

Pundits, meanwhile, have wondered where the Wales international would fit in, given the excellent pre-season form of Isco, and the success of the possession-based midfield style new coach Carlo Ancelotti has been using.

Marca remains convinced the deal will go through, announcing on its cover on Friday morning that Bale had three possible teams for the coming season: Madrid, Madrid or Madrid. However, rival newspaper AS featured a piece from editor Alfredo Relano expressing his growing concerns about the transfer.

"As the days pass, it seems Bale's signing for Madrid comes closer and closer in an inexorable way, and each day I hear more doubts,” Relano wrote. “Doubts about the price, above all, and for the little need to make the signing."


Similar doubts appear to have surfaced among both players and staff at the Bernabeu, too, particularly given the likely €100 million-plus fee, as well as a reported €9 million-a-year net salary, which would make him the third best-paid player at the club, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka.

AS believes other high-profile players at the club, including Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria, are not impressed at the prospect of dropping below Bale on the salary scale, and are wary of the possible threat to their starting spots in the side.

Ronaldo is also said to be keen to retain his status as the world’s most expensive player, while the Portugal international apparently asked senior club figures not to sell Di Maria.

Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United are reportedly among the clubs interested in Di Maria, with Perez said to be keen to bring in around €30 million for the Argentina winger to help balance the books.

Marcelo was the latest Madrid player to be asked about Bale’s potential arrival, but the Brazil international gave little backing to the pursuit.

"The president and the coach are the ones who must be in agreement to sign him,” Marcelo said in AS. “I do not make the decisions."

McAgger wrote:Crims you're like a perfect stereotype for a deluded Madrid fan going by that statement. Getting excited for a Galactico signing that Madrid don't even need to the point where it clouds your judgement about the players ability.

sportsczy wrote:He wasn't booed at the last French international.  The game was in Belgium with a very pro Belgian crowd obviously...  they booed every French player who came on and came off.  Opposition fans do that.  In fact, the louder they boo, the better you probably played as an opponent.  There's no mention of any special boo other than by AS lol.  Nothing in France at all.

We'll see how much of a game winner Bale is when he takes 3-4 shots total in a game with no free kicks as opposed to 7-10.