I really hope it works out for Bale, but I just fear the weight of expectation will be too much. He is an exciting, talented player, but he is no Lionel Messi.
I don't think this transfer fee is really a sign of anything in the greater football world. Real Madrid have always paid record fees and they will continue to do so, meanwhile other teams are still able to buy good players for a fraction of that cost. Real are paying to enhance their brand as much as their team, and Bale is the most exciting player in the world right now. Like with Beckham, and Ronaldo, people will buy shirts with Bale on the back who are not necessarily Real Madrid fans, and they will watch their games just to see him play, and that kind of exposure is priceless. They will also of course have budgeted carefully for this kind of spending, although it seems like a crazy sum, it's really nothing they can't afford. They've already recouped £50m just from Napoli in this transfer window after all!
I understand what you are saying apart from the bit I've highlighted. Who knows what will come along in the future but I can't think of players better than Bale at the moment. Bale scored so many goals last season that were just down to him, no real support from team mates in the way Messi does sitting in the middle of that Barcelona team.
I'd have thought even the most ardent of Welsh Spurs supporters would accept Messi is better than Bale.
I still think Harry was right trying to ship him off to Forest. That utter blunder gets conveniently forgotten the whole time, it's nice to bring it up now and again.
Yes they are, due to the leveraged buyout by the Glazers. But no need to worry, the international financiers and bankers who back these sort of deals clearly know what they are doing. Don't they?
I bring it up as often as I can and it annoys me when people even breathe his name in the same sentence as Bale.
Utterly irrelevant. They are easily able to service that debt. If you have a mortgage you're in considerable debt too, doesn't mean you're broke, or that you haven't budgeted.
MP in Press Conference - "We're pretty pleased with the players we've brought in, but we're also keeping an eye on the market."
It isn't utterly irrelevant. if you look at Lehman Brothers, they had huge assets but were such a highly geared company that they couldn't continue. When your borrowed funds heavilly outweigh your equity (or capital in this case) it's not a healthy positon to be in! Such is Real's financial and marketing clout that it won't go the same way as other companies, but it certainly isn't a model encouraged by the "Accounting for Idiots" guide! Or maybe it is considering the name. Now there's a quandary...
Property bubbles never burst, do they? The Spanish economy is on it's arse because people believed that.
You're taking what I've said to absurd conclusions. Just because property bubbles sometimes burst, it doesn't mean everyone with a mortgage is in trouble. Yes it is. I only said that Real had budgeted for this spending. Anything else is you filling in the gaps.
No. But everyone with a mortgage is taking a gamble, and the bigger the mortgage, the bigger the gamble. Anyway, you clearly believe the directors of Real know what they are doing. But as I said, most people had similar trust in the banking system until recently. What can possibly go wrong?
The Ronaldo deal to Real was paid off in two or three weeks. How? Shirt sales. Exactly the same will happen with Bale.
Bale will no doubt be a very good signing for them and Madrid have brought in cash this summer but let's not over-estimate their business acumen. I know someone who works in TV rights and Real Madrid are one of his clients. His opinion of them?
Madrid will win the CL while Bale is there - maybe not this season, but at some point - something they haven't done for over a decade.
