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Anyone remember that Bale chap?

Unless he has an underlying injury which keeps re-occurring I don't think his fitness would be an issue, his wages may be high but what he brings to a team is worth it. I would have him back in a heartbeat.
Some players seem to have frequent inquiry issues even though it's not a single underlying issue.

Probably overly simplified, but it seems some very quick/strong players have their muscles putting more strain on their bodies than they can handle without getting frequent injuries.

36, 33, 24, 30, 21 and 17 league starts over the last 6 years. That's not a good trend and over a decent sample size. Playing for us, in the PL, under Pochettino isn't going to be any easier on him either. Not sure our medical department would be able to do more for him than Real.

It might turn around for him. But I see no real reason to be super optimistic about that on his behalf. At the very least the fee and wages would have to reflect the injury concern. Another reason why one of the richer clubs might be more likely. They have less reason to be risk averse with their money.
 
Yeah that pretty much reported everywhere but why on earth did they offer him that as he was at the club of his dreams earning a packet already

Uncertainty on who stays and who goes is never good for a team, especially when it comes to star players. His contract was due in 2019, and now it is 2022. The new contract is a statement. Perhaps there was a "low" buy-out clause that needed fixing(set to 1 B now). Players on short contracts may be lured elsewhere and then force a move against the wishes of the club. Had Real not signed a new contract, Bale could sign for a new club next January for free. The agent negotiating probably got a cut, driving the price up. He did his job.

I guess there are more possible reasons :)
 
Uncertainty on who stays and who goes is never good for a team, especially when it comes to star players. His contract was due in 2019, and now it is 2022. The new contract is a statement. Perhaps there was a "low" buy-out clause that needed fixing(set to 1 B now). Players on short contracts may be lured elsewhere and then force a move against the wishes of the club. Had Real not signed a new contract, Bale could sign for a new club next January for free. The agent negotiating probably got a cut, driving the price up. He did his job.

I guess there are more possible reasons :)

But he may have signed a contract on the wages he was on too

I find it odd that he is on such a high sum post tax (works out circa £500k a week)
 
I can't decide. In one way it would be an amazing signing, a statement of where we are going but in another way Bale comes with a lot of risk. Assuming an arrangement could be made on his wages (and I'm not sure how that is possible) then would Bale fit with Poch's playing philosophy ? I don't think so and his fitness is big concern. I think I've convinced myself to no.

I think we need two things in terms of the team as it is now and our future after moving into the new stadium. Firstly, we need pace - real, burning, unstoppable pace, allied with good close control. And, secondly, we need a statement signing to demonstrate our evolution as a club post-arrival at the new place.

In my mind, I see it as a choice between two types of players - the type epitomized by Bale...and the type epitomized by Christian Pulisic. Bale is the established world-class star, with his experience at the very top of the game and the sentimental value from the time he spent at Spurs adding to his attractiveness to us as a club. However, his downside is that he's injury prone, entering the final years of his prime, on enormous wages and might not fit in with a pressing philosophy.

Christian Pulisic, on the other hand, is not an established star...yet. He is supremely young (I think he won't turn 20 until after the *next* summer window closes), he has a lot to learn, and he'd be a prospect to develop, not an experienced world-class star we can utilise straight away. However....he has huge potential, is perfectly suited for our sort of pressing system (as evidenced by his success at Dortmund, a club very similar to our own), *and*, crucially, he is American - and the USMNT's great white hope. In realistic terms, he is probably the most skillful, most promising player the United States has yet produced, and will (injuries and form permitting) be the face of American football for the next decade and beyond. Thus, he would fit *perfectly* with what we want to do from a marketing standpoint - America's best player, playing at Tottenham Hotspur, the club that owns the stadium in London that the NFL will shack up at for ten years. With our advertising, our branding and our overseas tours seemingly all focused on the States for some years now, Pulisic would be *perfect* in terms of giving us a leg up in the American market - and, together with the NFL tie-up, establishing us as one of the top Prem clubs in America. This also fits into our tie-up with Nike - Nike sponsors Pulisic and will do so until 2022, and no doubt they'd love to have him rock up at a club which wears Nike gear over, y'know, Dortmund (who use Puma).

You see the difference in those two approaches. The former is driven by sentiment and huge ambition - the latter, by calculation, marketing concerns and a desire for gradual progress, as opposed to instant attempts to reach the top. And I think where we are as a club now predisposes us towards targeting someone like Pulisic over someone like Bale.

They're both rapid, they're both skillful, they're both players that would improve us. But Pulisic fits into where we are as a club in a way that Bale currently doesn't, imo. And, for what it's worth, I think we really will go for Pulisic at some point, and that we're probably monitoring him very closely already - it makes too much sense for us not to try. Maybe as soon as the coming summer, if Dortmund struggle.
 
I think we need two things in terms of the team as it is now and our future after moving into the new stadium. Firstly, we need pace - real, burning, unstoppable pace, allied with good close control. And, secondly, we need a statement signing to demonstrate our evolution as a club post-arrival at the new place.

In my mind, I see it as a choice between two types of players - the type epitomized by Bale...and the type epitomized by Christian Pulisic. Bale is the established world-class star, with his experience at the very top of the game and the sentimental value from the time he spent at Spurs adding to his attractiveness to us as a club. However, his downside is that he's injury prone, entering the final years of his prime, on enormous wages and might not fit in with a pressing philosophy.

Christian Pulisic, on the other hand, is not an established star...yet. He is supremely young (I think he won't turn 20 until after the *next* summer window closes), he has a lot to learn, and he'd be a prospect to develop, not an experienced world-class star we can utilise straight away. However....he has huge potential, is perfectly suited for our sort of pressing system (as evidenced by his success at Dortmund, a club very similar to our own), *and*, crucially, he is American - and the USMNT's great white hope. In realistic terms, he is probably the most skillful, most promising player the United States has yet produced, and will (injuries and form permitting) be the face of American football for the next decade and beyond. Thus, he would fit *perfectly* with what we want to do from a marketing standpoint - America's best player, playing at Tottenham Hotspur, the club that owns the stadium in London that the NFL will shack up at for ten years. With our advertising, our branding and our overseas tours seemingly all focused on the States for some years now, Pulisic would be *perfect* in terms of giving us a leg up in the American market - and, together with the NFL tie-up, establishing us as one of the top Prem clubs in America. This also fits into our tie-up with Nike - Nike sponsors Pulisic and will do so until 2022, and no doubt they'd love to have him rock up at a club which wears Nike gear over, y'know, Dortmund (who use Puma).

You see the difference in those two approaches. The former is driven by sentiment and huge ambition - the latter, by calculation, marketing concerns and a desire for gradual progress, as opposed to instant attempts to reach the top. And I think where we are as a club now predisposes us towards targeting someone like Pulisic over someone like Bale.

They're both rapid, they're both skillful, they're both players that would improve us. But Pulisic fits into where we are as a club in a way that Bale currently doesn't, imo. And, for what it's worth, I think we really will go for Pulisic at some point, and that we're probably monitoring him very closely already - it makes too much sense for us not to try. Maybe as soon as the coming summer, if Dortmund struggle.
I think there'll be a lot of teams in for Pulisic. He has as much potential as anyone out there right now. Plus he comes with massive overseas shirt sales.
 
I think there'll be a lot of teams in for Pulisic. He has as much potential as anyone out there right now. Plus he comes with massive overseas shirt sales.

No doubt. But so will we, is my point - and, for us, we've got some unique circumstances that would make the marketing boost from signing him even more potent (i.e, the NFL tie-up and our recent focus on buffing up our position in America). To put it another way, he'd probably be more of a boon marketing-wise to us than he would to just about any other club at the moment - and that's without considering his obvious talent.
 
Hi fits the bill for Saudi Sportswashing Machine. Attacking, over priced and Spanish (kind of) - Rafa's probably already been in touch.
 
He is obviously just bothered about £££££££££££££££££££££££



Gareth Bale admits he'd be tempted to move to the Chinese Super League with his Real Madrid future in doubt
 
When he comes back to the PL in the summer I can see him doing a Mo Salah .......if he stays fit of course
 
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