I've said yes, I think he's staying. For a start I'll echo what others have said in that its Madrid or bust now in terms of where he'd go, he's not going to a Prem side. I think Levy and the club hierarchy seem pretty pissed off at Madrid and they will either keep the price so high that Madrid won't pay it or they will just take a stand and point blank refuse to sell. We have no great financial need to sell as the investment in the squad this summer has been partially offset by outgoing players (we may yet see more out of the door), and the new stadium is not, as I understand it, dependent in any way on selling Bale to raise the funds. I don't doubt that Madrid may have turned Bale's head a bit over this summer but looking at his comments over the last few years, and particularly after his latest and most successful season he seems to be enjoying his time here. He may now fancy a move to Madrid a bit but you don't fall out of love with a club this quickly, certainly not if you're the kind of person Bale seems to be. Its been said over and over again that he seems very settled in the UK, likes being quite close to his family in Wales, and has a young kid who he may not want to move to Spain. I don't think he'll hand in a transfer request and even if he did Levy may be bloody minded enough, at this late stage, to rip it up in his face. If he handed in that request at the start of the window it may well have been a different story but everything now points to us doing our business early, so Levy may not fancy a late surge in a market where everyone would know we were flush with funds and could thus rinse us for fees and wages.
Thats just my view, I have no doubt that others may view it differently!
- there is no reason to have multiple polls.
