Gareth Bale is...The most expensive player ever?!

He was born to play for United and I honestly can only see that being the case in a year or two.
 
He was born to play for United and I honestly can only see that being the case in a year or two.

How was he born to play for United? I'd love for him to play for us but the idea that he was 'born' to and all that stuff is clutching at straws.
 
How was he born to play for United? I'd love for him to play for us but the idea that he was 'born' to and all that stuff is clutching at straws.

He's an extremely gifted British talent. To me, with the exception of players who started at the bigger PL teams (e.g. Wilshere) means he is born to play for us :)


Barca and Real get ALL the top Iberian talents they want.
Bayern have all of Germany in their pocket.

If we miss out on probably the best British talent in a decade - one in which there have been little if any truly outstanding new British players - it will be a fecking huge cock up IMO.
 
Madrid surely have to be the worst team when it comes to tapping up a player.

how have they tapped him up? The president have said they are interested and will negotiate with Spurs (with whome Madrid have a collaboration agreeement by the way). Dont see that much wrong with that (at least not worse than what other clubs do)
 
How was he born to play for United? I'd love for him to play for us but the idea that he was 'born' to and all that stuff is clutching at straws.

It's a just a phrase with no real meaning behind it.

But if you are Gareth Bale and you have before you the option to push for a transfer for either Real or United, what do you fukking do?

On the one hand you have a club which is always in the hunt for a CL trophy but is also in turmoil...or at least turmoil never leaves the club. I'm talking, of course, of about Real. And you know Real isn't going to leap over Barcelona any time soon, not as long as Messi can still fog a mirror. No manager...unless I've missed something in the last few hours. Then you have Ronaldo still there...unless I've missed news on that too in the last few hours. So, to me at least, Real is not attractive option for Bale at least until the new manager has been appointed and Ronaldo has moved left for United.

Then you have United. If Ronaldo comes home, then that's the end of that. But if he doesn't, there's definitely room for Bale's talent. Yes, we have a new manager, but a manager who inherits one a fantastic squad and assumes the helm of a globally relevant institution, which Spurs will never be.

Close call, no doubt, but if Gareth is looking for a move up, so to speak, there's really one choice -- Manchester United.
 
... if Gareth is looking for a move up, so to speak, there's really one choice -- Manchester United.

Do you see Moyes bidding 60m+ on a single player?

Nah - he's going to want to get his feet under the table first, not arrive and then instantly try and break your transfer record fee after years of parsimony at Everton.
 
Do you see Moyes bidding 60m+ on a single player?

Nah - he's going to want to get his feet under the table first, not arrive and then instantly try and break your transfer record fee after years of parsimony at Everton.

Gun to my head, I'd say no way. 60m is a huge amount of cash, which I'm not even sure we have in our warchest anyway. And don't forget we've had a couple of massive price tag flops -- one of whom came courtesy of Mr. Levy.

On the other hand, Bale would be a nailed on bet to make a massive contribution to United in our quest to return to the CL final, which we really need to get back to. What we know right now is that Valencia had a poor season but let's assume he returns to old form in 13/14. We're reasonably sure Nani is on his way out, but even if he stays no one argues any longer that Nani is the equal of Bale. Young is a mediocre squad man at best. Zaha could be the next Ronaldo, but all we know right now is that he's exciting young talent with zero experience in the English prem. Yeah, we could use the help on the wing. But at 60m? Probably not.
 
Gun to my head, I'd say no way. 60m is a huge amount of cash, which I'm not even sure we have in our warchest anyway. And don't forget we've had a couple of massive price tag flops -- one of whom came courtesy of Mr. Levy.

On the other hand, Bale would be a nailed on bet to make a massive contribution to United in our quest to return to the CL final, which we really need to get back to. What we know right now is that Valencia had a poor season but let's assume he returns to old form in 13/14. We're reasonably sure Nani is on his way out, but even if he stays no one argues any longer that Nani is the equal of Bale. Young is a mediocre squad man at best. Zaha could be the next Ronaldo, but all we know right now is that he's exciting young talent with zero experience in the English prem. Yeah, we could use the help on the wing. But at 60m? Probably not.

No Ruud, we must bring the real Ronaldo home. Otherwise we are fukked in our quest of another Champions League final.
 
Zaha could be the Next Ronaldo? I would be reasonably happy if he turns out to be the next Nani.

I'd be very happy if he was the next Nani in terms of what he can do on the pitch. Nani is one of our most talented players when he is playing regularly one of the best players in this league.
 
Do you see Moyes bidding 60m+ on a single player?

Nah - he's going to want to get his feet under the table first, not arrive and then instantly try and break your transfer record fee after years of parsimony at Everton.

I agree.

Although conversely you could look at it this way: he has just come in to the biggest club in England and replaced the greatest Manager of our our time (ever?). Most of the fans have been underwhelmed with his appointment and he may want to make a big impression by signing a superstar like Bale.

If SAF endorsed the hiring of Moyes, which he obviously did, then I wouldn't be surprised if SAF had made arrangements with the club to allow them to open their coffers to Moyes - to sign a huge name to get all of the fans behind him (Moyes).
 
I agree.

Although conversely you could look at it this way: he has just come in to the biggest club in England and replaced the greatest Manager of our our time (ever?). Most of the fans have been underwhelmed with his appointment and he may want to make a big impression by signing a superstar like Bale.

If SAF endorsed the hiring of Moyes, which he obviously did, then I wouldn't be surprised if SAF had made arrangements with the club to allow them to open their coffers to Moyes - to sign a huge name to get all of the fans behind him (Moyes).

That is a very good point. Nothing will endear Moyes with the fans more than the signing of a midfielder and a world class winger. If Rooney leaves it is imperative that we sign another world class performer, and Bale fits the bill perfectly. Rooney is one of two truly world class players in our attack and losing him will be a huge blow. Also, the impact that an exceptional player makes in lifting the spirit of the entire squad is very understated.

With Rooney we will lose one of our best goal scorers and British players. He is also our most marketable star, with huge worldwide popularity. Signing Bale will definitely lessen the blow in those respects. He is an excellent player with the ability to play anywhere behind the striker and score goals. His goals from the midfield will also lower the need to sign another striker for the squad.

Bale checks nearly all the boxes for us and would be a great signing, IMO. At £60m he his over priced by a minimum of £10m-£15m but with the cnut bags from Madrid likely to be involved we might have to bid close to that figure. Around £50m from the sales of Nani, Rooney & Anderson should allow us to do that.

Bale, Thiago & McCarthy, and we can call it a summer.

PS: I went full muppet, didn't I? It must be that time of the year. :p
 
If Fellaini signs for United, and Martinez takes over at Everton, then I expect they will make a move for McCarthy.
 
If Fellaini signs for United, and Martinez takes over at Everton, then I expect they will make a move for McCarthy.

Quite possibly.

However I am not sold on Martinez, he won the FA cup, but Wigan have been poor in the league during his tenure. Their late season comebacks hid the fact that they gave tons of bad performances during the rest of the season. Can Martinez take Everton forward on a shoe-string budget? I am not too sure.

The good football talk is nonsense if it keeps you at the bottom and eventually gets you relegated.
 
Do you see Moyes bidding 60m+ on a single player?

Nah - he's going to want to get his feet under the table first, not arrive and then instantly try and break your transfer record fee after years of parsimony at Everton.

I do (see him bidding that). Especially if Rooney leaves, what we will want is a true statement of intent, and bidding for Bale would be exactly that.

I think Bale is waiting for Giggs to retire so that when he comes here he can have the #11 shirt:devil:
 
Give them Rooney and some cash to get Bale. Maybe Spurs will not be as turned off by the thought of Rooney as Bayern and other top European teams are.
 
Quite possibly.

However I am not sold on Martinez, he won the FA cup, but Wigan have been poor in the league during his tenure. Their late season comebacks hid the fact that they gave tons of bad performances during the rest of the season. Can Martinez take Everton forward on a shoe-string budget? I am not too sure.

The good football talk is nonsense if it keeps you at the bottom and eventually gets you relegated.

Everton can keep their players though, Wigan cant.

Every year they had to sell and rebuild, its impossible to go forward like that!.
 
Give them Rooney and some cash to get Bale. Maybe Spurs will not be as turned off by the thought of Rooney as Bayern and other top European teams are.

Who will pay Rooney's wages? The spuds won't.

Say they pay £100k, this leaves another £150k left over to be subsidized by United. Add on Bale's potential wages of£150-£200k, not to mention the money that would have to go Tottenham's way as a make-weight, then you have one ridiculously expensive deal for United.
 
Who will pay Rooney's wages? The spuds won't.

Say they pay £100k, this leaves another £150k left over to be subsidized by United. Add on Bale's potential wages of£150-£200k, not to mention the money that would have to go Tottenham's way as a make-weight, then you have one ridiculously expensive deal for United.

Rooney is not on 250k a week.

Lets be real Rooney is never going to Spurs anyway, if he leaves its abroad to a money bags club.
 
Gun to my head, I'd say no way. 60m is a huge amount of cash, which I'm not even sure we have in our warchest anyway. And don't forget we've had a couple of massive price tag flops -- one of whom came courtesy of Mr. Levy.

On the other hand, Bale would be a nailed on bet to make a massive contribution to United in our quest to return to the CL final, which we really need to get back to. What we know right now is that Valencia had a poor season but let's assume he returns to old form in 13/14. We're reasonably sure Nani is on his way out, but even if he stays no one argues any longer that Nani is the equal of Bale. Young is a mediocre squad man at best. Zaha could be the next Ronaldo, but all we know right now is that he's exciting young talent with zero experience in the English prem. Yeah, we could use the help on the wing. But at 60m? Probably not.

Gareth Bale is a player you can build a team around - its that simple.

In terms of marketing he's a dream, so the cost of paying a huge sum for a player of his quality and potential is offset against what you can generate. Madrid do it all the time. Bale is potentially hugely marketable because he's a crowd pleaser.

If he's available, United will be in for him on the basis that he could be an absolute superstar and realistically may want the move. I doubt it'll be this year but next year is a real possibility.
 
We've spent over £35m net two summers in a row now, Moyes should be afforded the same luxury hopefully, if not a little more. We could probably get 3 or 4 good players with the money we'll have including sales, I don't think blowing all of it on Bale is a good idea.

We can also end up looking silly with such huge transfer fees. If Rooney ended up playing somewhere else in England next season, would it truly surprise anyone if he outperforms Bale and tops the goalscoring charts for example?
 
How long after he signed for us would the CAF turn on Bale for shooting Every SINGLE time he gets the ball within a mile of goal, Ill say a game and half.
 
We've spent over £35m net two summers in a row now, Moyes should be afforded the same luxury hopefully, if not a little more. We could probably get 3 or 4 good players with the money we'll have including sales, I don't think blowing all of it on Bale is a good idea.

We can also end up looking silly with such huge transfer fees. If Rooney ended up playing somewhere else in England next season, would it truly surprise anyone if he outperforms Bale and tops the goalscoring charts for example?

The fact is, there's a reason why top players go for huge sums of money. Its about identifying when its the right thing to do.

Your argument about the club "looking silly" can easily be turned on its head. What if Bale goes to a rival and has a great season, whilst Rooney continues iin his current slump? Fact is, Bale looks to be very much on his upward curve, while its arguable from his performances this year Rooney is heading in the opposite direction.

United need to compete for top players when they can. The club generates tens of millions every year on the back of its success. Eventually, if they dont go out and spend big they'll get left behind. RVP is a great example - big money, no sell on value but was argubaly the difference last year.

A big factor for me is that something like this would be a big statement of intent following the loss of Sir Alex and could be the basis for continued success.
 
Why do people talk as if £60 million is a lot of money for us? Didn't we make a £23 million profit after player trading in the last financial year? We spent £40 million net of players and still made £23 million even after servicing our debt right? So we could easily have spent £60 million. This year with the improved sponsorship and increased TV money, we could surely spend £80 million on a player if we wanted to and it wouldn't be a big deal for us. Some clubs can't spend anything without making a loss.
 
The day £60 million stopped being a lot of money in the transfer world.

Mad mad world we live in.

To be fair Real paid that for Kaka /Zidane back in the day.

Does Bale have the potential to live up to these names? I think so yes.

Of course he might never have the technical brilliance of Zidane, or the precise cutting through balls of Kaka, but he has speed to burn and an absolutely lethal left foot capable of scoring from anywhere.

Our team is pretty complete as it is, we just need a few CLASS players to take us up that extra notch. Blow the budget on the lad and revel in the trophies :drool:
 
Why do people talk as if £60 million is a lot of money for us? Didn't we make a £23 million profit after player trading in the last financial year? We spent £40 million net of players and still made £23 million even after servicing our debt right? So we could easily have spent £60 million. This year with the improved sponsorship and increased TV money, we could surely spend £80 million on a player if we wanted to and it wouldn't be a big deal for us. Some clubs can't spend anything without making a loss.

Indeed.

I can understand people thinking the money paid for players and the wages they get are mad, but its a global billion pound industry. For years they've said it can't contine - and not only does it continue but the TV rights, sponsorship and resultant fees/wages just keep getting bigger.
 
To be fair Real paid that for Kaka /Zidane back in the day.

Does Bale have the potential to live up to these names? I think so yes.

Of course he might never have the technical brilliance of Zidane, or the precise cutting through balls of Kaka, but he has speed to burn and an absolutely lethal left foot capable of scoring from anywhere.

Our team is pretty complete as it is, we just need a few CLASS players to take us up that extra notch. Blow the budget on the lad and revel in the trophies :drool:

It reminds me (a bit) of when the club went all out to get Alan Shearer. He chose Newcastle in the end (a decision he surely must regret on some level) but had he signed the team would surely have been even more succesful. Giggsy one side and Beckham the other - he'd have bagged bucket loads of goals.
 
The day £60 million stopped being a lot of money in the transfer world.

Mad mad world we live in.

As a percentage of turnover is it even a lot though compared to what other clubs spend?

Newcastle bought Shearer for £15 million in 1996 and was their turnover even a 1/4 of what our is now. We make huge profits and I bet they were making a loss.
 
The fact is, there's a reason why top players go for huge sums of money. Its about identifying when its the right thing to do.

Your argument about the club "looking silly" can easily be turned on its head. What if Bale goes to a rival and has a great season, whilst Rooney continues iin his current slump? Fact is, Bale looks to be very much on his upward curve, while its arguable from his performances this year Rooney is heading in the opposite direction.

United need to compete for top players when they can. The club generates tens of millions every year on the back of its success. Eventually, if they dont go out and spend big they'll get left behind. RVP is a great example - big money, no sell on value but was argubaly the difference last year.

A big factor for me is that something like this would be a big statement of intent following the loss of Sir Alex and could be the basis for continued success.
I wouldn't say we'd look silly for not spending 60m on Bale, it's an absurd amount of money whether he ends up worth it or not. Granted it would be up to us to improve the team significantly enough so we don't have to regret not taking the chance to sign him.

I just think it would be better spent on more than 1 player. Would you rather we bought Thiago, Matic and Di Maria or just Bale for example?
 
The money only looks worth it when the player produces. If he re-creates his Tottenham performances and improves on them 60 million will be worth it. He is not a sure thing like Ronaldo was when Real signed him I was 100% sure he would be a success but he has surpassed even my expectations. I don't feel the same about Bale he still needs one more season at Tottenham imo or he will struggle when he gets here initially. He does not co-exist well with his teammmates which is something he would need to do here.
 
I don't see why we don't spend £60m on a player every season, seeing as our turnover is so big.