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

but you get the point that it is more to do with the quality, or the lack of it, of the Spurs squad than anything.

Your point in ridiculous because Spurs are 4th in the league.

As an all round package, I can't think of a player in world football who is more suitable for our team.

His idol is Ryan Giggs BTW, that be currency right there.
 
Your point in ridiculous because Spurs are 4th in the league.

As an all round package, I can't think of a player in world football who is more suitable for our team.

His idol is Ryan Giggs BTW, that be currency right there.

And that warrants him to be a starter for top clubs in the world? Being a part of a team that is fighting for 4th place?

All round package? How? His passing, crossing and technique is hardly decent, no signs of any creativity and vision, with okayish dribbling and a good shot on him. His greatest asset is his pace, take that out that is not give him space and he will be locked down easily, as he has been in those circumstances everytime.

I've already mentioned enough names in this thread who are head and shoulders above him and actually "complete", who I would like to have in our team ahead of him.
 
And that warrants him to be a starter for top clubs in the world? Being a part of a team that is fighting for 4th place?

You just said that he and Charlie Adam carry their teams because of a lack of quality surrounding them, well if that is the case with Bale and Spurs then Bale is a bloody genius because he has carried them all the way to fourth spot.
 
You just said that he and Charlie Adam carry their teams because of a lack of quality surrounding them, well if that is the case with Bale and Spurs then Bale is a bloody genius because he has carried them all the way to fourth spot.

It is all relative though, not the same "lack" of quality. Spurs lack the quality to finish comfortably in the top 4 for which they need one player to contribute more than the others to keep them in the mix.
 
It is all relative though, not the same "lack" of quality. Spurs lack the quality to finish comfortably in the top 4 for which they need one player to contribute more than the others to keep them in the mix.

That is the same for most top teams though and it is a bit of a ridiculous argument.
 
And ... All round package? How? His passing, crossing and technique is hardly decent, no signs of any creativity and vision, with okayish dribbling and a good shot on him. His greatest asset is his pace, take that out that is not give him space and he will be locked down easily, as he has been in those circumstances everytime.

I've already mentioned enough names in this thread who are head and shoulders above him and actually "complete", who I would like to have in our team ahead of him.

Your views on Bale are wildly out of touch with reality.

For example, you call his crossing and technique "hardly decent", when in fact it'd be hard to find a better crosser of the ball in the Prem ... and even that ignores how many times he gets to the byline in the first place when other players wouldn't.

You call his passing "hardly decent", when (for example) many times he has delivered a superb cross field ball to Lennon with the outside of his left foot.

You call his shot merely "good", when superb would be more accurate.

And you question his being an "all round package". But he scores goals with his head and feet, beats players with ease, puts in excellent crosses and can play as as left winger, right winger, left back and more in a more centrally attacking position.

He works hard defensively, takes free kicks and corners, has a great first touch, is powerful and athletic, can control the ball at speed, terrifies defences, is tireless, super fast and is a model pro.

The truth is there are very few players out there who offer more of an all round package than Bale.
 
Amuse us and tell us who those players are Glaston

Why don't you amuse us instead by explaining why Bale does not offer an all round package ... if indeed that is your view.
 
It would be interesting to see how he would do at a bigger club where he would fall down the pecking order. He would obviously still do well but would he eventually be able to become the first name on the teamsheet?
 
People only talk about his attacking game, but what separates him from so many of the players mentioned here as being as good as him, is his defensive work. He presses the ball as well as Rooney or Kuyt use to. He's given license to roam when Spurs are in possession but when they aren't on the ball, Bale always gets back to cover his LB. He also makes lots blocks and clearances in the box.

Fans love to talk about tactics and how teams work as a unit, yet in this thread we've seen Bale being compared to Walcott, as they have similar scoring stats! Most of the talents who are supposedly as talented or have more potential, don't do anywhere as near as much for the team. This is a key reason why Bale is seemingly rated so much higher by those who have played the game, than fans. Everyone complains about all the hype, but half the time it seems as if those who do, don't even watch him much.
 
I'd hate to think what that makes you, Lynk, Aldoraine and the like.

Jilted lovers I suppose.


I have been accused recently of having an agenda against Ronaldo, yet there are a few posters who do have an agenda in that they think it is impossible to have a British footballer who can score free-kicks or score goals like he does. At the end of the day, if he came to Manchester United, he would displace the likes of Nani and Young with relative ease. Nani is not match fit at the moment, but I am sure with the guildance of Sir Alex, Bale can go far. I wouldn't mind swapping Young + some money for Bale.
 
I am saying there is a chance of that simply because, as I said, his game highly depends on physical attributes which are hard to sustain over a long period of time and I don't any significant quality in his technique that would help him to adapt in a different role.

As for Reus, he just moved to Dortmund last summer, and that was what they paid for him so that is his present value. He actually had a stormer of a season before they bought him, so that was pretty much his maximum value. I don't know how much Madrid will pay for him now, they got Ozil, Khedira and Sahin for very cheap and all of them were top names in the Bundesliga when they signed.

It's just the British tags that is increasing his value.

Plenty of players have that problem. Ronaldo is a star player - very quick and pace is a major asset - the same player at 35? I doubt it, but he's effective now, so teams would pay a fortune for him. Nobody buys a player thinking they'll be the same player in ten years.

As for the players you refer to from Germany, they were all nearly out of contract so it's hardly a fair comparison.

All this talk about his "value" is totally academic. Bale, just like any other player is worth what the top bidder will pay. If he's a success then they won't care what they paid for him.

He's getting unfair stick for being British it seems. He's young, talented, hard worker and seems like a decent kid. Conversely people on here would sell their mothers to get Neymar in to the club who could be th next Robinho.

He may never be a world beater but all I see so far is a player who keeps getting called "overrated" but keeps answering by getting better, so fair play to him.

I maintain, given the superlatives on here regarding the likes of Cleverly and Welbeck, if he were a United player he'd be considered the second coming based on these kind of performances.
 
I am not saying he should have played at the current level when he was 21, but the problem is that his career curve is no different from players like Nani to me, except that Nani enjoyed top form once upon a time, and bale is doing that now. It's nothing more than the flavour of the month. Saying he is worth 40s and 50s of million pounds and ready for a top club based on that is way over the top.

The claims I make are not really that big. I don't see him fitting at Barca at all and they already seem to be tracking Neymar. Madrid have Di Maria and Ronaldo, Bayern have Ribery, Dortmund have Reus and Juve play a narrow formation and won't sacrifice a CM to play a winger.

As for Rooney and RVP, do you think Rooney is currently one of the best strikers in the world? We bought RVP for 20 odd million and even that was deemed overpriced by many here who are comfortable in saying that Bale deserves 40, so I don't see where the comparison is coming from.

So when is he not "flavour of the month"? Because he had a great CL campaign as a young lad a few years go and since then has clearly improved massively and consistently, to the point where he is winning games pretty much on his own in one of the top leagues in the world, and at times, looks utterly unplayable doing it.

To me that's the sign of a special player. I can't recall many lads his age doing that, and I've been watching football for a long time.

Nobody is saying he's Ronaldo or Messi, clearly that's ridiculous. Doesn't mean he's not quality. I'd take him here in a heartbeat. Clearly you disagree.
 
So when is he not "flavour of the month"? Because he had a great CL campaign as a young lad a few years go and since then has clearly improved massively and consistently, to the point where he is winning games pretty much on his own in one of the top leagues in the world, and at times, looks utterly unplayable doing it.

To me that's the sign of a special player. I can't recall many lads his age doing that, and I've been watching football for a long time.

Nobody is saying he's Ronaldo or Messi, clearly that's ridiculous. Doesn't mean he's not quality. I'd take him here in a heartbeat. Clearly you disagree.

its that kind of nonsense that gets under peoples skin.
 
The assertion that Gareth Bale is an outstanding footballer and would be a regular starter for almost any club in the world is hardly controversial.
 
The assertion that Gareth Bale is an outstanding footballer and would be a regular starter for almost any club in the world is hardly controversial.

the assertion that he rocks up and is unplayable and wins matches every week on his own is though. That's the problem. There is a middle ground. Bale is in form right now he is Tottenham's talisman but he isn't the best player in the PL and he isn't totally unplayable.
 
I don't have specific players in mind. If you do then feel free to enlighten us.

'Enlighten us ' ? feck off Glaston :lol:, you're the one who came up with that opinion after all and now you're telling me you don't have specific players in mind ? Don't be a pussy, give us a few names otherwise you'll always be the laughing stock that you are now.
 
Rio as in, arguably the best central defender of his generation, or close to it.

50m is a lot more than 30m too.

Relative to football revenues at The time, the 30 for Rio is far higher.

He would be worth it.
 
I can't believe anyone still doubts Bale. He has shown fantastic ability for over two years now and is only 23.


If he was a United player everyone would be calling him the new Ronaldo.
 
We should have gone in for him when he was at Southampton.

We paid as much for Bebe than Spurs paid for Bale.

That's crazy. What a signing by Spurs. And they're going to make an huge profit on him as well
 
I'd gladly sell Nani to help fund a bid for Bale, or offer a swap deal. I do like Nani and he can be quality, but if any of those rumours were true about him leaving this Summer then we might as well cash in and replace him with someone who is better, or at least a lot more consistent. My only worry is that I think starting bids will have to be £40m+ to even tempt Tottenham into accepting and I'm not sure that Fergie would be willing to do that even if we managed to make a decent whack from selling another player.

Man City and Real Madrid will likely come in with stronger offers anyway and while City 'need' him more than us to give them that other dimension, I still think he'd play nearly every week for us. While Real Madrid might be favourites to sign him due to that stupid partnership they made with Spurs (probably purely to sign Bale in the future anyway), but I hope he's bright enough to see that Madrid is one of the few teams in the world where he's probably not guaranteed to start even though he's top quality already.

I don't think he will still be at Spurs in two years time, if they qualify for the Champion's League this season though, then he might not leave as early as this Summer. But if he plays as well as he did in the games against Inter when playing other good European sides, his price will probably inflate even more...

Bottom line, out of all the attacking players in the world right now (who are 'available'), it's Bale I want at United the most. Even though we might be better off signing a disciplined central midfielder for when Scholes retires and if Fletcher isn't able to return. I think him and Evra would hit it off, as Bale knows the left back role as well and will help him out more than most wingers. He's another player to take set-pieces for us as while RvP's corners are consistent enough, it'd be good to have him in the box more often too!
 
... overrated and definitely overpriced but one hell of a player nonetheless and is someone I'd be glad to see us sign for reasonable-ish price. If ever there was a player tailor made more United it's Bale..
 
... overrated and definitely overpriced but one hell of a player nonetheless and is someone I'd be glad to see us sign for reasonable-ish price. If ever there was a player tailor made more United it's Bale..

Overrated only in Britain. Dont think clubs in other countries see him as a 50mil player. He is a very good player but i dont get the tailor made for United comments. SAF is going to be around for couple of years more, who knows what style his replacement brings in? No guarantee at all that the new manager would also be someone who puts such heavy emphasis on wing play.
 
its that kind of nonsense that gets under peoples skin.

Why? It's true.

Spurs are a decent side, no more, no less. Take Bale out of the side as it is and where are they? Was the difference against West Brom, Newcastle and Lyon, scoring key goals under pressure.

Against Newcastle in particular - two goals away from home and ran them absolutely ragged last 15 minutes of the game and could have had at least two more.

Put this lad in a better side where teams can't double up on him and common sense says he be even more dangerous.