Flashback to 2009, football's hottest property Cristiano Ronaldo decided to bring down curtains on his tenure at Old Trafford resulting in Manchester United finishing second to Chelsea after a hat-trick of EPL wins. Ronaldo's record breaking move to Real Madrid worth 80 million pounds was the transition phase in the transfer market. Since then Manchester City, PSG, Chelsea and Monaco have spend some crazy money on top players but none stands out more than the whopping amount which is being linked with Gareth Bale's potential Real transfer.
Real was undergoing a transition post the Zidane-Beckham-Figo and 'Real Ronaldo' era and CR7 along with Karim Benzema and Kaka allowed Los Blancos to see beyond the star studded line-up they once constituted of which paved the way for the new Glactico era. Four years down the line and the same side are looking to shake things up yet again with a mammoth amount of six million more than the biggest transfer of all time.
Talk about Bale, and one would pause a bit, and maybe even stutter at the start. And when you hear the amount, you may even ridicule the price at which he is among the talks. Where speculations regarding the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas are hovering somewhere between 30 to 40 million pounds, how much is a price tag of 86million justified, much less for a winger, who just had two good season with the mid table EPL side Tottenham Hotspur? When we look into it and compare him with one of the current best - Ronaldo, Bale is a promising 24-year-old with a bright future who is nowhere near the stature of the Portuguese, both on and off the field.
When you hear Ronaldo, you can in a way trace his entire footballing career and be quick on giving views on him, the biggest being "Is he better than Messi or not"? Yet somehow, he is found on the walls on every teenage football fanatic; and of course, a hit among girls. Messi on the other hand, would give purists a reason to say "He's the better of the two" and would have his share of wall space. Where does Bale fit into this category? Think and then bang your head for Ancelotti.
But then again, we're talking about Real Madrid, who have a knack of spending big on their potential 'targets'. Back in 2000, Luis Figo's 'controversial' move the Bernabeau left Barcelona fans "betrayed". Madrid's tactics have been audacious on such platforms, and Bale is the latest example of it. A line up consisting of both Ronaldo and Bale would look appealing enough to put a lot many butts on to seats but definitely not at the cost of 86 million pounds. There remains a question mark over whether they even require him looking at the squad they have. Angel di Maria is well settled and has performed brilliantly for them in past couple of seasons.
Real, over the years have been spotless in generating revenues through the selling of jerseys. A reported 1.2 million jerseys with 'Ronaldo 7' written on the back were sold which recovered a majority of their investment. Will Bale be able to step up the gas, considering he wasn't even a part of the top 10 EPL jerseys sold last season?
From being a just another signing for Spurs, the term "coming a long way" indeed holds true for the Welsh footballer. His meteoric rise has made him one of "in the making", but you can always associate him with a label of 40-50 million pounds. Even United's interest in him faded away as they were unwilling to pay over the odds for the EPL Player of the season. So to be a part of "the biggest transfer in history", he's got to catch up.
Football's greatest playmaker Zinedine Zidane wore the Whites from Juventus the year after Figo arrived. Result, a Champions League win. The very next year Brazilian Ronaldo completed the trifecta of iconic players to take centre-stage at the Santiago Bernabeau and Real took away the Intercontinental Cup. David Beckham followed suite the next year but these players are in a way "synonyms' of the sport and the biggest names across all sports around the globe.
Looking at two sides of the same coin, newly appointed David Moyes is struggling to make use of funds provided to him, a provision he never experienced at Everton. The other side has Carlo Ancelotti who is willing to spend a record amount for their 'one' constant target during the transfer window. So it won't be a surprise to see Tottenham raising the stakes. You can't expect a cat to just smell a bowl of milk and go away.
Things at Madrid aren't easy. Bale's adaptability will come into the spotlight, so will his fitness, but most importantly, his stature. Will Real be able to take him to unprecedented heights as they have done previously remains the big question. Bale is currently one of the swiftest in the world; which is the one characteristic Ronaldo has mastered at over the years. So is Theo Walcott who has trolled the likes of lighting and a stallion in terms of speed on Facebook. But he scores more than Walcott and is impeccable with free-kicks.
A deal with Real Madrid can be the turning point of Bale's career; it can probably even earn him the cover of FIFA 15, something that Kaka did in the 2011 edition. But like Kaka, there will always exist a potential scare of Bale's longevity with the squad. And looking at the history of English players in Spain, there is no guarantee that he could cope with the technical aspect of the game and perform there. Even the likes of Beckham, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate have failed to show their class in Spain.
Bale has long favoured intentions of playing with Real and if reports are to be believed, the two sides have agreed on Bale's transfer at a price that will make its entry into the record books. It'll be an interesting move considering Bale's transformation that is lined up in store, which will also mark a 'big' signing for the upcoming season. Are Moyes and Arsene Wenger listening?
Comments
0 comment