Gareth Bale has won four Champions League trophies and one La Liga title as a member of Real Madrid. The Welshman has tasted the highs and lows of football at the Santiago Bernabeu.
After six seasons in Madrid, it looked like Bale was destined to leave Los Blancos last summer. However, Real Madrid could not shift Bale’s enormous £350,000-per-week contract to a club the winger was happy with joining.
Bale had an offer from Chinese Super League team Beijing Guoan in July of this year as Zinedine Zidane tried to offload him. The deal fell through and in the end, no other club has was able (or willing) to take on Bale’s salary.
A recent article in The Mirror stated “Manchester United should go all out for” Bale. The argument for signing Bale doesn’t make a lot of sense based on his form over the last few seasons. He is unwanted at Real Madrid and it isn’t like Bale has proven Zidane wrong for wanting to be rid of him. Bale has been out of form since scoring twice against Liverpool in the Champions League Final in 2018.
Yes, he saved Real Madrid in that match, but then failed to live up to being Los Blancos’ main man without Cristiano Ronaldo in the side.
Manchester United need to adapt the player recruitment models of rivals Manchester City and Liverpool if they are too return to the top of English football. Adding an overpriced 30-year-old winger (he will be 31 next summer) is not the way to return to the top of the Premier League.
Bale may be a “heck of a player” but injuries and age are catching up with him. Putting Bale into the Manchester United squad doesn’t make them lightyears better like it once would have.
If he still earns a similar wage to his current £350,000-a-week salary, then Manchester United could alienate other squad members. Manchester United should have learned from their mistake of signing Alexis Sanchez. However, approaching Bale seems a fool’s move in the same way of signing Sanchez.
Tottenham Hotspur are in a similar place. Bale’s return would be great for nostalgia and shirt sales, yet it isn’t the way to build the team for the future. On paper, Bale would fit in better with Spurs.
Manchester United are just a team of individuals. It doesn’t feel like Manchester United are building a cohesive squad, rather adding talented individuals that don’t exactly fit into the larger puzzle picture.
So, how has Bale performed this season for Real Madrid? The winger has tallied two goals and two assists in six league matches. Meanwhile, his only significant moment in the Champions League, a goal against Paris Saint-Germain, was called back for a handball.
Bale’s numbers may be a bit misleading. His two goals came against Villarreal and since then, Bale has scored in four matches in all competitions. Meanwhile, he has missed out on three of Real Madrid’s 10 games in all competitions. One of which was due to a red card suspension.
On Thursday night when Wales played Slovakia in Euro 2020 qualifying. Real Madrid held their breath when Bale went down from a knock to his knee late in the match. Their breath wasn’t being held due to needing Bale, rather it was due to their desperation to move him on.
Manchester United can sign Gareth Bale and go right through the same issues they experienced with Sanchez. Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur can add Bale for nostalgia purposes. Either way, adding Gareth Bale at this point, especially for the amount of money he is on at Real Madrid, is simply a fool’s move.
