Gareth Bale reported for training with Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, amid mounting rumours about a lucrative move to Real Madrid in a possible world record transfer deal.
The 24-year-old Welsh winger’s return to training was being closely watched because of persistent questions about his immediate future.
Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas said during the club’s pre-season visit to Hong Kong last week that they were in talks with the highly rated player, who scored 26 goals last season, about a new contract.
He said he was optimistic of reaching agreement on a deal but fuelled speculation that Bale would leave the club after saying that there was currently no agreement.
Since then, the British and Spanish media have gone into overdrive, with Bale reportedly being given a price tag upwards of the record 80 million pounds ($A135.30 million) Real paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
The Guardian said Real had indicated they were willing to pay a world record 100 million pounds ($A169 million) for Bale while Spanish sports daily Marca has claimed that Spurs have demanded a fee of 125 million pounds ($A211.5 million) for the player.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has also been reported as having set up a meeting with Real president Florentino Perez in Miami next week, where the Spanish club are due to play in a pre-season tournament, to broker a deal.
Bale’s family were even said to have met Levy earlier this week to persuade him to allow the player to go, even though he has reportedly not submitted a formal transfer request.
The Daily Mirror claimed Levy was holding out for the best price for Bale and would be prepared to bring back Luka Modric, who left White Hart Lane for the Bernabeu last year in a similarly drawn-out transfer saga.
France legend and former Real player Zinedine Zidane, currently an ambassador for the Spanish capital club, was reported as saying: “If he (Bale) has expressed a desire to join Madrid, then Tottenham should give him permission to speak with us.
“The chance to play for Real Madrid might only come around once in a player’s lifetime — and it’s understandable that Gareth doesn’t want to miss out on it.”
But former Tottenham star Glenn Hoddle suggested that Bale could be better served by staying in England and building on his impressive performance from last season.
“It’s one thing setting a standard, it’s keeping the standard which is the hardest thing, the consistency,” the former Monaco and England midfielder told talkSPORT radio.
“When you go abroad the first four, five, six months could be difficult for him to regain that form and if his family are not with him 100 per cent all those things come into it.
“I just sense that maybe he might go for the wrong reasons. If he wants to go just for football reasons, I think it might be better in a year’s time or maybe two year’s time.”
AZ_RBB
Guest
Am I the only one who think Bale is worth the 80-odd million pounds? Get him on a 5 year contract he will comfortable pay it off in terms of shirt sales, sponsorship, exposure and additional success on the field. I'm sure adidas are helping out here. Bale is one of the most marketable footballers (my heterosexual way of calling him good looking) on the planet to the point where his on field skills and achievements are almost superfluous. On top of that he fits the Real mould perfectly with its glamour club status. Lets not forget he is still very young. On top of all that add the current environment of players being bought and sold for ridiculous amounts thanks to the presence of billionaire/oil funded clubs. They also have the 60ish million pounds they've made in selling Higuain et al. As well as their new status as the richest sporting organisation in the world. So they have the money to throw out and ensure that no one else goes near them in competition for Bale's signature. Tottenham have a history of getting potential buyers to beg a little. look at Berba, Carrick and Modric sales in the past. In short, 80-90 million pounds seems justified to me.
Johnny Banter
Roar Rookie
Couldn't agree more. I love watching Bale play for Spurs, but for £80m+ we could buy 2-3 world class players, plus a few promising youngsters. It's a ridiculous amount of money for a player who has had one gun season (on the back of a couple of good seasons).
Kasey
Guest
If Real Madrid are silly enough to offer £100+ million then Spuds would be incredibly silly not to sell him. As with all footballers he is always only a knee injury away from being next to worthless, cash in now and buy 2 or 3 £40mil players, spreading the risk.
Johnny Banter
Roar Rookie
Nice article. I must say one of the things that annoys me about Australian sports media is the constant need to convert Pounds/Euros to Australian dollars. I don't mind when it's displayed as an additional figure such as in this article, but it's confusing when AUD is the only figure listed. I'm talking to you, Fox Sports. This is particularly evident with record signing fees. As a hypothetical - Ronaldo was signed for 80 million pounds back in June 2009, which equated to roughly AU$160 million at the time. Bale might now be sold for 85 million pounds, or AU$144 million. Bale would be the new world record signing, despite technically being sold for AU$16mill less than Ronaldo.
pete4
Guest
Bale had a great season last year but he's certainly not in the Ronaldo category IMO $200M transfer fee for him is over the top