First part is undoubtedly true and Bale's inflated ego won't allow him to move across as a super sub. Second part is even more prevalent and in my opinion, proof beyond reasonable doubt that the story is a load of old flannel.
I wouldn't totally write off Barca's interest or the idea that they'd use him at left-back. It seems to be something of a problem position for them and they might like the idea of using Bale as a mirror of Alves. Their full-backs tend to play like glorified wingers anyway, so I think that the role would suit him pretty well. The price is obviously ridiculous, but it might be their way of opening the door on some gossip. They're getting as bad as Real and Man Utd with their media orchestrated tapping up campaigns.
Marca wouldn't be doing Barca any favours, that's for sure. The level of enmity between the two clubs, and their supporters, makes most English rivalries look tame.
Maybe if he moved so swiftly to quell speculation about him taking the England job a couple of months ago we'd have Champions League football sewn up and it would be Arsenal/Newcastle battling fo fourth and worrying about the result of the Champions league final...
I think we ought to wait and so should the powers that be at Barca to see who succeeds Pep before speculating as to who will go there. The new man might not rate Bale.
If they bought Bale, do you think he'd play at left back? Would he replace Abidal in a 4-3-3, or would we see Barca switch to 3/5 at the back depending on what you count the wing-backs as?
Which begs two questions: 1.) Why are United fans discussing a Spurs player? 2.) Why are United fans discussing a Barca transfer?
Sherringham ... £3.5m Carrick .... £18.5 m Berbatov .... £32.5m At this rate bale will cost united around £70m ... that's not much really...It'll only buy you 2 andy carrols
Maybe we should spend our time orchestrating rumors that might hurt Barca. It may not be a deliberate tapping up campaign, but Barca has a history of doing this, and if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
Even as an arsenal fan i hope he stays. Great player and i prefer seeing our rivals being close competitors. (providing we finish above )
It does stand to reason that if you play for Barca then clearly as an attacking player you will see tons of the ball, and as an attacking full back you will be in a position to shine so I wouldn't say Bale doesn't have the ability to play for barca. However, no chance if there was any truth to this story would we sell Bale for £32 million as there is no reason for us to sell a player near his minimum value when Levy would look to sell at the highest possible fee.
There is no doubt that Bale is an extraordinary talent. Whether he would fit into Barca's current style, I'm not so sure. Their slow build up, passing game doesn,t seem suited to him. He would, however, provide them with an outlet - a more direct route - which would mix things up a bit, and give their opposition another problem to think about.
I way I see it, is that football is a simple game and passing the ball is a simple task so when you have a played with great technical ability then they can fit into a system and learn how to adapt. I mean for example, look at Swansea, there players play a short passing game, lots of possession and that is down to their players being trained to play such a way, yet it doesn't take years to achieve this, its more to do with how the manager trains the team to play his way.