Spurs would be absolutely insane to turn down the Players + Money offer. Dont think Di maria would want to play in a non-CL teambut if he could be convinced i think you'd be stronger next season with those 2 plus the cash to reinvest. Same if an offer of £80mil has been made - insane to turn it down. To get to the nextlevel and be a consistent CLteam spurs need greater quality in depth rather than relying on one player. It'll be interesting if he stays at Spurs and then goes next summer for less money or if he then cant recreate his form from last season!
The reason for Coentrao is that we'd already asked after him and were in talks with Real over him. From the sounds of it they may well have used that to try and get a value agreed between the clubs so they can take that straight off the value of any Bale deal, substituting him in instead. Levy won't allow the deals to merge into player plus cash though, he knows that's how you get screwed over and if Real won't allow a deal independent of Bale then we should forget it. As you said in your other post as much as there are quality players Madrid can offer us they're not a patch on Bale. Anyway, other than Ronaldo and Ozil the only players I wouldn't mind us getting in a deal for Bale are Illaramendi and Isco who would be as impossible to get as Ronaldo.
"Even if that unsettles your entire squad and gets you off to a bad start like in 08/09 & 11/12?" Squad as of today is in a far stronger position to regroup post Bale. If Soldado arrives, even more so.
We are discussing this like it's a real offer. Who says? Sounds very specific to be in the public domain, it's just as likely to be completely made up by someone who wants to sound ITK! Will someone just put an official complaint in against RM for tapping up???? I haven't been following this for a couple of days though (boring!) but has anyone actually confirmed RM have officially approached Spurs AT ALL, let alone making these very specific offers????
Well whatever happens re. Bale I just hope it's sorted pronto - be it a statement that he's not going whatever is offered or that we do sell him and still have a bit of time before the new season. I still don't think I'd want Di Maria. Coentrao yes - I can't see ADM fitting into the PL so well. If we got 76m + Coentrao (i.e. the same as the current offer, just adding the 25 onto the 51 and then no ADM) that might be better. However, just because we have the money doesn't mean we'd just go and bid top dollar for everyone. We don't operate that way. Levy will still want best return. And I still maintain that the top players at our club will be next in the firing line for the media - I can see it now - made up articles with the players describing their disappointment at the club's lack of ambition etc. It's a great offer from RM - although we wouldn't suddenly get all that money straight away. They apparently still owe us big for Modric. My opinion is the same as always - Bale is more than just a football player to us, he's almost a brand. You only have to look on the BT Sport adverts, the billboard in Times Square, the cover of FIFA 14 etc. etc. to know that he's a superstar. I think he just did a magazine frontcover as well. Yep all that is probably only benefitting him financially but the shirt sales, the fact that kids growing up would want to emulate Bale in the playground at school - who knows they might just start supporting Spurs because he's here (I did the same with Teddy Sheringham). You can also use him as another feature to lure players in. Paulinho himself has said that part of the reason he joined was because of Bale. In terms of on the pitch, yeah everything went through him last year because nobody else feckin scored. We've bolstered the wing, the midfield and upfront (if Soldado is really in) - I'm confident that Bale's play will be more team-orientated this coming season and we'll look so much more balanced. If our strikers and others are scoring it takes the pressure off him to continually pull out miraculous goals all the time. TL;DR - The offer is great, the money is very nice but not convinced by ADM, but if we sell - the club will suffer off the pitch as much as on if he went.
You're quite right vimhawk, but these kind of debates are unstoppable, they will always happen on here because apart from anything else it's fun to speculate. It also eases the pain if the worst were to happen.
If we do sign Soldado, I want him presented to us a la Lion King, with Daniel Levy holding him up above a crowd of cheering fans whilst The Circle of Life plays.
I think that, if what we have heard is true, Levy is hugely pissed off with Real's behaviour. IF Bale goes, you can bet it will only be when Levy has screwed them for every last cent!..if they don't pay, I think he stays - whether he wants to, or not.
Would you be happy to keep him against his will if he has decided he wants to go? And if that meant you got a lot less for him next summer?
You're basically saying, "Do you want to lose him now or have him perform horribly all season and then sell him for much less than is on offer in this window?". Not much of a choice there, is it?
That dosen't work usually does it, if a player wants to go then that is what happens. BUT remember this is all pure speculation the only things that Bale has said is he is happy at Spurs. He is young he has time and it's unlikely he would be worth less next season anyway. Bale has not exhibited any other characteristics than being a well grounded young man his silence suggests he is playing by the rules.
My question was about whether you guys as fans would rather take the money now, or risk having an unhappy player then push through a move next season for less cash? Arsenal have had to deal with several high profile departures over recent years so we have some experience in seeing players pushing for movesand the club having to sell for a decent price rather than do whatsbest for the team on the pitch. Just wondering how you guys are feeling about it all - especially since Madrid came in and took Modric just last season. I'm now of the opinion where once a player wants out - **** them - get whatever money you can and bring in replacements - i know sometimes the same quality cant be brought in but it's not worth having players who dont want to be at the club.
@spurf - i agree he tends to come across as a quite a profesional. No comments from him yet - but if he wants to go, do you think he should be sold?
I have to admit to being disappointed that Bale hasn't come out to say he's staying...which to me actually says a lot. He doesn't want to do a 'Modric' by demanding a transfer and sulking about it and turning the fans against him, therefore i think it's almost a foregone conclusion that he will go. However I do think that for £80+m, we can't really turn it down. Yes he's a special player and yes he's one of the best in the world, but life goes on. We all said that when Ronaldo left Man Utd, it would spell a drop in form for them for a couple of years...did that happen....no!! And I don't think it will happen to us either. Remember all the times during last season, when we lost to Norwich, Fulham etc...where was Bale then? He does have his 'off' matches. Most people on here were making the same comments! I honestly think we can strenghten our team even further....we've got Paulhinho and Chadli at the moment, a very good possibility of Soldado and maybe further yet to be announced. To me, that's a lot of money we've spent already, and taking into consideration we haven't offloaded much so far, i think the Levy may have already reconciled to the fact that Bale will go. The latest RM offer (apparently!) includes Coentrao (who we've already expressed interest in) and ADM who is a very good player...plus £51m. If it's going to happen, I would rather it sooner or later!!
AVB has said we are in talks with player and his agent re a new contract. That does not suggest we are negotiating his transfer quite the opposite. The message from Spurs to Real has been in effect hands off and shut up. The rest is made up bulshit for your consumption. I prefer decent food personally.
I think things will move this week as they're all back from HK. Hopefully we can get a new contract sorted and some sort of happy statement from Bale. That would really stick it to those Madrid dbags.
Another thing Bale HAS said in the last few months, is that he doesn't read the papers and pays no attention to any speculation about him.
