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There have been question marks around the future of Welsh superstar Gareth Bale at Real Madrid practically all season, and with just months to go before the next transfer window opens, the speculation is now beginning to reach fever pitch.
Despite spending six successful seasons at the Bernabeu – helping Los Blancos to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League on 4 occasions – it looks like Bale’s time is finally up in Spain, as he appears to have become an outcast at the club and was even booed by his own fans this weekend.
But where could Bale go? There will likely be plenty of suitors for the flying Welshman, but the following 3 clubs might be near the front of the queue.
#1 Manchester United
Manchester United have been linked with a move for Bale for what feels like ages now, dating back to the days when Louis Van Gaal was at the helm at Old Trafford. With changes now clearly coming following the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as permanent boss, signing a player the calibre of Gareth Bale would certainly send a message to the Red Devils’ title rivals that the red half of Manchester is back in the race for the Premier League.
One issue that wouldn’t be a stumbling block would be the transfer fee; at 29 years old Bale would likely still command a hefty fee – perhaps even above the reported £85m that Real paid for him back in 2013 – but as one of the richest clubs in the world, United could definitely afford it. The Welshman’s astronomical wages of £350,000 per week might raise some eyebrows, but then United were quite willing to pay Alexis Sanchez somewhere around £300,000 per week and the Chilean is likely to leave this summer.
The only issue surrounding a move to Old Trafford for Bale would be the message it’d give off, and whether Solskjaer would want to give that message. United signing Bale would suggest once again that the Red Devils are valuing big names over players in positions that they might need more, and it’d also send the wrong sort of message to United’s youth players. Still, who knows whether Solskjaer actually has full control of United’s transfer policy? And if he doesn’t, a move for Bale wouldn’t be a shock at all.
#2 Bayern Munich
It might be considered a strange move by some, but to see Bale move to Germany and to their biggest club, Bayern Munich, actually makes more sense than most moves for the Welshman. Firstly, Bayern are definitely one of Europe’s true giants, a side who have won the Champions League on multiple occasions and hold a near-monopoly over the Bundesliga. They also have other global superstars such as Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer on their books, meaning Bale would fit right in.
More to the point, with both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery finally on their way out of the Allianz this summer, Bayern will need a flying wide forward to replace them. While they do have a pair of hot prospects in the form of Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman able to slot into those positions, obviously Bale would be an upgrade on both and would lessen the loss of Bayern’s veterans considerably.
Bale’s wages could be an issue if he were to move to Bayern – reportedly, their current highest earner is Lewandowski who makes €225,000 per week, a figure considerably lower than Bale would probably command, and if the Welshman joined at anywhere near his current wage it could cause ripples across the club. But if he were willing to take a bit of a pay cut, then this could be an ideal move for both parties – and Bale could even inspire Bayern to go deeper in next season’s Champions League.
#3 Tottenham Hotspur
It’s usually rare for a player who leaves a smaller club for a bigger one to return to the smaller one at some point, unless they’re miles past their prime – think Wayne Rooney going back to Everton in 2017 – but given the changes that have occurred at Tottenham since Bale left for Real Madrid, it wouldn’t be a massive shocker to see him return to White Hart Lane at some point, maybe even this summer.
When Bale left Spurs in 2013, they were still a side fighting to make their mark in the Premier League – they did have some Champions League experience under Harry Redknapp in 2011, with Bale famously destroying Inter Milan, but they weren’t the title contenders they are now under Mauricio Pochettino. And they also have one of the finest stadiums in the world to call home, too, following the opening of the new White Hart Lane last week.
The big issue with Bale going back to Spurs would be how he’d fit in. A highly-paid superstar suddenly coming in could disrupt the fine balance that Pochettino has put together in his squad, with players like Harry Kane and Dele Alli not really being treated differently to squad men like Ben Davies and Fernando Llorente despite their reputations. For that reason – as well as the huge wage he’d command – it’s hard to see Bale coming back to Tottenham, but in football you can’t rule anything out.
