Does Gareth Bale have an outside chance at the Ballon d'or ?

What do you think?

He's coming back off a great season for Madrid winning CL with them.

He's joint top scorer at the EURO with 2 of his goals being free-kicks. Yes this matters as it creates a lot of hype.

Wales will be facing N.Ireland in the knockouts and should they progress, face the winner of Belgium-Hungary game. How far can he take Wales? Will he be a legit contender if Wales make semis with him becoming top scorer along the way? Imo reaching semis alone for a country like Wales is nothing short of remarkable.

Fully expect this to be a jinx thread but i was thinking strongly about this yesterday considering Wales have a great opportunity to make their mark in a tournament like this with relatively favorable draws. I know people fully expect either Cristiano or Messi to take it home again but its not like Messi has had a whirlwind season even though the way he's performed in the Copa makes him a strong contender. Cristiano's Portugal is going nowhere as we speak and how far he takes Portugal does play a factor in his B d'or chances imo. Neymar doesnt even play Copa. FIFA hate Suarez so the only other strong contender is imo Bale who is performed well both for club and country. Its pretty fascinating to think actually that Wales can g far in the tournament with Bale leading the charge.

If by outside chance you mean top 3 then maybe. It's between him and Neymar for 3rd place, and yes if he takes Wales far that will help him.

He has absolutely no chance of winning it though. It'll be Messi if he wins the Copa, Ronaldo otherwise because of the CL.

Or in other words, dark horse.

He's British as well so that could help in terms of campaigning especially if he ends up top scorer of the EURO or something.

AJ has more chance of being WWE champion.

Bale has a chance in "best player in europe" award as media will decide it.
But for general population messi has more hype atm and considered best player. followed by ronaldo

yes he has!

He could be considered in the top 3, but it's really just an honorary prize, because we all know it'll be between Cristiano and Messi.

what about the people's champ?

He has to win Euro to have a chance .

As of now it's Messi - Cr7 -. .. Suarez/

imo it should be Messi-suarez-Cr7

Sadly he won't win it since CR scored the penalty winning goal in CL and Messi is on track winning an irrelevant poverty Copa. Top 3 sure, but no cigar.

Not even close, he plays in the same club, and Madrid will never lobby for ballon d'or for anyone else than Ronaldo as long as he is our player. Top 3 at best if he goes far enough

Suarez scored 60 goals during the season and outplayed Messi.

He's definitely going to be on the podium.

ES wrote:Sadly he won't win it since CR scored the penalty winning goal in CL and Messi is on track winning an irrelevant poverty Copa. Top 3 sure, but no cigar.

Nonsense . This copa is as much as legitimate than any other. Same as last year + Mexico and Usa

Suarez scored 59 not 60.. Btw, if bale takes wales to the euros then yes why not? It will be deserved tbh.. But if its about them just getting to the semi finals alone, especially with those craps teams they'll face, trust me bale wouldn't even be in top 5 and that's putting it mildly..

Messi, Cr7 and suarez are my picks. Even if we all know modric has a higher chance of winning it than suarez ever will..

Didn't he spend half the season injured?

No.

But I'm glad he's playing great because I like him, and I hope he can stay injury free. I mean, as long as it doesn't lead to Madrid winning anything/flukey CL titles

Spoiler:

How about modric

Bale has more problems to worry about this morning. With the UK exit from EU, he will be considered an import! WE have an allocation of 3, currently taken by James, Casemiro and Navas. All the more reason to sell James!

futbol_bill wrote:Bale has more problems to worry about this morning. With the UK exit from EU, he will be considered an import! WE have an allocation of 3, currently taken by James, Casemiro and Navas. All the more reason to sell James!

Imo before the UK exit from EU becomes effective , Bale would have left RM imo.

How would Bale have anything to worry about in that list? Of them, he's probably the safest in the club's eyes. If anyone has anything to worry about in that list, it's Keylor. Perfect excuse for uncle flo to go after De Gea

futbol_bill wrote:Bale has more problems to worry about this morning. With the UK exit from EU, he will be considered an import! WE have an allocation of 3, currently taken by James, Casemiro and Navas. All the more reason to sell James!

Could see Flo try to swap Navas for De Gea then. James is probably out either way

Keylor is already spanish lol, the list of non EU players in madrid is Danilo, Casemiro and James + Bale now. Keylor is not going anywhere

James will be sold later this summer as he doesnt fit in anymore.

How would I know that? lol

How does it work? After 5 years of living in Spain they are considered Spanish?

I cant remember but i think it's less than 5. I used to see it in FM

I believe it is after 5 years, you can get, if you apply for an EU citzenship. Nick is right it is Danilo in the 3rd spot not Navas, I just put this up re Bale as one more example of the possible implications of the EU exit. Nothing will come into effect for 2 years, (interesting after the possible signing ban) so this isn't a concern for now and who knows given all the Spanish and other EU players in EPL, they may adjust the rules to say EU and UK. AS it stands now, most imports are only confined to South Americans who haven't played in Europe for 5 years.

It's 5 years, i know this because my family lives in Spain.