Player Watch: Gareth Bale - Retires

buttons · Aug 13, 2020

As i have said for the past 74 transfer windows, if we, Madrid and most importantly Bale want this move to happen then it shouldn't be beyond the parties involved to come up with a deal i.e. Madrid pay up half his contract, we pay a hefty signing on fee and pay GB a 'sensible' wage.

Sadly i suspect at least one of the three parties involved will not be sufficiently up for it!

AllReb · Aug 13, 2020

worcestersauce said:
Absolutely right, Real Madrid wanted him to go so he, or rather his agent, set up a deal with a Chinese club and as you say, Madrid pulled the plug and forced him to stay.
All this he won't go he's just sitting around taking the money is unfair.

Exactly

what is he expected to do?

At least he’s not going clubbing etc just plays a lot of golf

Good on him and thanks for the memories etc but I don’t think he’ll return despite rumours of a loan with RM paying some of his salary

RichieS · Aug 13, 2020

Isn't golf notorious for fucking your back up?

thefierycamel · Aug 13, 2020

spids said:
Right, I've not had many "D'oh", "Optimistic", "Creative" ratings for a while, but I am bored and feeling speculative ....

Bale earns £600k per week, £31.2M per year before tax.

If he stays at Madrid until his contract ends in 2022 he will cost them another £62.4M in salary (exc. bonuses).

If he leaves Real Madrid he will not want to lose money, so needs to earn £62.4M in the next two years.

Real Madrid could buy him out of his contract by paying him half of his outstanding contract (£31.2M), with a new club paying him the other half in salary (£300k per week).

In this scenario:

Bale is not out of pocket.

Ream Madrid save £31.2M.

Bale gets to play football again.

Half of Bale's current salary is £15.6M per year (£300k per week).
If we did that we’d almost certainly have to increase Kane’s salary, and Levy would suddenly have a wage structure that is out of control.

One possible solution would be to pay Bale a signing on fee of £10M, payable over the course of his contract, and then ‘only’ pay him a formal salary of £10.6M per year (or ~£200k per week), which is aligned with Kane’s current deal, and within our current wage structure. Note: Bale will still earn ~£62.4M by June 2022. One could also argue we do not need backup to Kane if we have Bale, so the ~£15M fee and 70k per week (£3.6M per year) ear marked for someone like Wilson could contribute to our £31.2M costs.

Lots of ifs and buts, and incredibly unlikely, but Levy could try and sell it to Real Madrid and Bale (and Bale’s agent) as there are really no losers in that scenario, unless Real Madrid think they can either re-integrate the player into their first team, or can sell him for a fee.

If Real Madrid do have the financial issues being reported in some quarters they may not be able to say no. Yes, Bale has a great life in Spain. But he could come back 'home' for two years, play in the best stadium in the world , for fans who adore him, and he can play golf with Kane. Then he can retire to Spain in 2 or 3 years knowing he did not throw his short career away having formed part of an incredibly potent front line in an amazing counter attacking team under Mourinho.

Lloris
RB Alderweireld Dier Davies
Hojbjerg LoCelso
CAM
Bale----Kane----Son

Disclaimer: I know there is no chance this will happen but it killed 15 mins of time before I started work.

I'll be honest, in the very unlikely scenario that he does come back; based on that line-up the defence doesn't fill me with any confidence. I think Sanchez needs to start alongside Toby and the RB needs to be better than the ones that the club has been linked to recently. In any case we have that squad now but with Bergwijn, who is looking good. The defensive line is the biggest issue now that we've got a DM in. Would rather we spend any money we do have there on a proper player than bring Gareth back.

I.e.

Lloris
(New RB) Toby Sanchez Davies (or new LB)
Hojberg
Lo Celso Ndombele
Bergwijn Kane Son

That is fine as long as the defence is sorted out properly and not with half measures. The issue is that it seems that half measures are what we're going for (Aarons, Celik, Castagne aren't any better than kwp or aurier). I don't want an aging, injury-prone bale back when it will compromise building a proper team.

JCRD · Aug 13, 2020

I don't really get what people expect Bale to do. Would you give up 30m a year or 60m remaining on his contract and go somewhere dictated to by the very club who doesn't want you?

If someone paid me 60m to sit on my arse or to play golf I'll take it.

nickspurs · Aug 13, 2020

JCRD said:
I don't really get what people expect Bale to do. Would you give up 30m a year or 60m remaining on his contract and go somewhere dictated to by the very club who doesn't want you?

If someone paid me 60m to sit on my arse or to play golf I'll take it.

But the ideas people are putting out there result in Bale NOT being out of pocket. It’s all a question of how desperate Madrid are to reduce their costs (I.e. subsidise his wages at a new club) and Bale being interested in playing again - provided he still gets the cash he’s contractually entitled too.

All the noises from his camp are that “I expect full cash”. Now, he may be open to a move if Real and another club find a way to engineer up a mix of new wages/sign-on bonuses/Madrid subsidies that gives him his full cash.

My personal view is that Bale would be open to a move if he gets his full cash but the public stance (for Madrid’s benefit) is that he’s perfectly happy to sit out his contract and not be ‘keen’ on playing his part on the pitch while not incurring fines. At some point it is rational for Madrid, in the short-term, to subsidise 99.9% of his wages as it saves them money and they aren’t really missing out on a player as he doesn’t play anyway. It’s just wildly embarrassing for them and sets a deeply unhelpful precedent for the next time. I suspect Levy (if he and Jose are up for Bale) are fully supportive of the Bale camp’s stance. It’s just a question of how far Madrid are willing to subsidise and how much total contract cost that Levy could justify for Bale’s services for a couple of years e.g. £200K/week + £20m sign-on and probably zero sell-on value.

In the end I think the gap will be too much for Spurs and Madrid to get there but it’s not completely out of the question. It just depends on how much embarrassment Madrid can stomach.

mr ashley · Aug 13, 2020

JCRD said:
I don't really get what people expect Bale to do. Would you give up 30m a year or 60m remaining on his contract and go somewhere dictated to by the very club who doesn't want you?

If someone paid me 60m to sit on my arse or to play golf I'll take it.

I’m surprised that Gareth doesn’t seem to have that competitive edge anymore.
Id expect that the desire to compete, to win would still be there, and that he would want to play somewhere else, motivated to be the best (and also prove Zidane wrong). He’s the wrong side of 30 so doesn’t have that long left at the top level

That doesn’t mean he has to go where Madrid want him to go. There are options but Gareth has to compromise if he wants a say in it.

If he rides out his contract at Madrid, that will be his last contract in Europe (he might get an offer from the MLS /China/UAE).
But sitting on his arse and taking the money is effectively retiring - no one else will touch him. It’s the same with Ozil.

I think he’s being badly advised

nickspurs · Aug 13, 2020

mr ashley said:
I’m surprised that Gareth doesn’t seem to have that competitive edge anymore.
Id expect that the desire to compete, to win would still be there, and that he would want to play somewhere else, motivated to be the best (and also prove Zidane wrong). He’s the wrong side of 30 so doesn’t have that long left at the top level

That doesn’t mean he has to go where Madrid want him to go. There are options but Gareth has to compromise if he wants a say in it.

If he rides out his contract at Madrid, that will be his last contract in Europe (he might get an offer from the MLS /China/UAE).
But sitting on his arse and taking the money is effectively retiring - no one else will touch him. It’s the same with Ozil.

I think he’s being badly advised

Per my post above, I think you are wrongly interpreting his camp’s public negotiating position as what he actually wants. The two might be the same (he and his agent are the only ones who really know!) but I think they are different. They are just pressurising Madrid to do the maximum subsidising possible (or buy him out).

mr ashley · Aug 13, 2020

nickspurs said:
But the ideas people are putting out there result in Bale NOT being out of pocket. It’s all a question of how desperate Madrid are to reduce their costs (I.e. subsidise his wages at a new club) and Bale being interested in playing again - provided he still gets the cash he’s contractually entitled too.

All the noises from his camp are that “I expect full cash”. Now, he may be open to a move if Real and another club find a way to engineer up a mix of new wages/sign-on bonuses/Madrid subsidies that gives him his full cash.

My personal view is that Bale would be open to a move if he gets his full cash but the public stance (for Madrid’s benefit) is that he’s perfectly happy to sit out his contract and not be ‘keen’ on playing his part on the pitch while not incurring fines. At some point it is rationale for Madrid, in the short-term, to subsidise 99.9% of his wages as it saves them money and they aren’t really missing out on a player as he doesn’t play anyway. It’s just wildly embarrassing for them and sets a deeply unhelpful precedent for the next time. I suspect Levy (if he and Jose are up for Bale) are fully supportive of the Bale camp’s stance. It’s just a question of how far Madrid are willing to subsidise and how much total contract cost that Levy could justify for Bale’s services for a couple of years e.g. £200K/week + £20m sign-on and probably zero sell-on value.

In the end I think the gap will be too much for Spurs and Madrid to get there but it’s not completely out of the question. It just depends on how much embarrassment Madrid can stomach.

This is a stand-off that Gareth can’t win though.

If he sits out the remainder of his contract, that’s the end of him as a top level footballer.
If he takes a pay cut, he gets to play (and prolong his career) at the top level

He might not get the 60m from Madrid, but instead he might get 20m from his new team, and maybe then another 20m from another contract (think zlatan). Ok so he’s lost 20m in that scenario, but also has potentially 5 years of playing in an environment that’s not toxic.
Life’s too short (a footballers career even more so)

mr ashley · Aug 13, 2020

nickspurs said:
Per my post above, I think you are wrongly interpreting his camp’s public negotiating position as what he actually wants. The two might be the same (he and his agent are the only ones who really know!) but I think they are different. They are just pressurising Madrid to do the maximum subsidising possible (or buy him out).

Yes you may well be right.
Gareths has probably the worst PR as a footballer that I can remember.
The fans hate him, he’s now being painted as unprofessional by his club.
If this is a negotiating strategy it’s a risky one, that’s for sure. But I also think Perez’s head must be spinning trying to figure out a solution

nickspurs · Aug 13, 2020

mr ashley said:
This is a stand-off that Gareth can’t win though.

If he sits out the remainder of his contract, that’s the end of him as a top level footballer.
If he takes a pay cut, he gets to play (and prolong his career) at the top level

He might not get the 60m from Madrid, but instead he might get 20m from his new team, and maybe then another 20m from another contract (think zlatan). Ok so he’s lost 20m in that scenario, but also has potentially 5 years of playing in an environment that’s not toxic.
Life’s too short (a footballers career even more so)

I disagree. I believe he’s only threatening Madrid that he’ll sit out his contract to get the best possible deal for himself.

If you are him, here are two negotiating stances you can take:

1. Publicly tell everyone I’m totally happy in Madrid not playing and getting the cash I am contractually entitled too
2. Publicly saying ”I just want to play again, I’d love to play at Spurs where they love me and I can start winning trophies“

If I’m Madrid and I hear option 2, then I say to Gareth (and any interested clubs) “Fine, you need to compromise and accept a pay cut (or find a very stupid club willing to match his wages)”

If Madrid blink (more likely with option 1) then he gets his move and he maintains his cash position. The worst case scenario is he gets paid out but effectively retires, the best case is that he gets paid out (or close) and gets to play again and be loved by the fans. I would choose option 1 every time. Option 2 just makes him less well off financially and with option 1, he still has the option to compromise on wages for a move elsewhere.

dagraham · Aug 13, 2020

mr ashley said:
Yes you may well be right.
Gareths has probably the worst PR as a footballer that I can remember.
The fans hate him, he’s now being painted as unprofessional by his club.
If this is a negotiating strategy it’s a risky one, that’s for sure. But I also think Perez’s head must be spinning trying to figure out a solution

Yep. Despite it being funny, I would argue it hasn’t worked. He’s been virtually semi retired for the last couple of seasons.

nickspurs · Aug 13, 2020

mr ashley said:
Yes you may well be right.
Gareths has probably the worst PR as a footballer that I can remember.
The fans hate him, he’s now being painted as unprofessional by his club.
If this is a negotiating strategy it’s a risky one, that’s for sure. But I also think Perez’s head must be spinning trying to figure out a solution

Totally agree. I might be completely wrong of course but, as you say, the Madrid hierarchy must be absolutely hating it! ?

spids · Aug 13, 2020

thefierycamel said:
I'll be honest, in the very unlikely scenario that he does come back; based on that line-up the defence doesn't fill me with any confidence. I think Sanchez needs to start alongside Toby and the RB needs to be better than the ones that the club has been linked to recently. In any case we have that squad now but with Bergwijn, who is looking good. The defensive line is the biggest issue now that we've got a DM in. Would rather we spend any money we do have there on a proper player than bring Gareth back.

I.e.

Lloris
(New RB) Toby Sanchez Davies (or new LB)
Hojberg
Lo Celso Ndombele
Bergwijn Kane Son

That is fine as long as the defence is sorted out properly and not with half measures. The issue is that it seems that half measures are what we're going for (Aarons, Celik, Castagne aren't any better than kwp or aurier). I don't want an aging, injury-prone bale back when it will compromise building a proper team.

Ultimately what you are saying is that you prefer Sanchez over Dier, and Bergwijn over Bale. The rest of our teams were the same. (I did initially put Ndomebele in the team in exactly the formation you chose, but did not want it to become a debate about Ndombele as he splits this board down the middle). Sanchez vs Dier aside, is Bergwijn better than Bale as a counter attacking WF? For me, if Bale can get back to anywhere near his best, a Bale-Kane-Son front line in a counter attacking team can be as good as any forward line in world football. Throw in Mourinho's low block and tactics for big games, and we could become seriously competitive.

WhiteHeartLowe · Aug 13, 2020

Are we certain that, if we take away the romantic/ emotional aspect of him returning, and given his age and injury history, he would actually improve our squad enough to justify what it would cost to get him?

mr ashley · Aug 13, 2020

nickspurs said:
I disagree. I believe he’s only threatening Madrid that he’ll sit out his contract to get the best possible deal for himself.

If you are him, here are two negotiating stances you can take:

1. Publicly tell everyone I’m totally happy in Madrid not playing and getting the cash I am contractually entitled too
2. Publicly saying ”I just want to play again, I’d love to play at Spurs where they love me and I can start winning trophies“

If I’m Madrid and I hear option 2, then I say to Gareth (and any interested clubs) “Fine, you need to compromise and accept a pay cut (or find a very stupid club willing to match his wages)”

If Madrid blink (more likely with option 1) then he gets his move and he maintains his cash position. The worst case scenario is he gets paid out but effectively retires, the best case is that he gets paid out (or close) and gets to play again and be loved by the fans. I would choose option 1 every time. Option 2 just makes him less well off financially and with option 1, he still has the option to compromise on wages for a move elsewhere.

The problem is, whilst he holds out for a salary matching deal, the clubs that could offer it are moving on ( or simply can’t afford it)
Utd are after Sancho now
Where else?
PSG are rumoured to be after Ronaldo now, which could free up Juve (although the rumours are that they need to cut costs themselves).
City- no
Liverpool- unlikely
Bayern- no
Inter- no

And, as much as I’d love to see him return to us, I can’t see how we’d finance a deal.

Perez cocked this up by reneging on the China deal last summer. It’s backfired for him, and for Gareth.

AberdeenYid · Aug 13, 2020

He’s in a bit of a no win situation.

He stays and hopes that ZZ goes and he gets an opportunity, which isn’t that likely.

He moves, becomes the highest paid player at a club and has huge expectation lumped upon him. Whatever he does at a new club probably won’t ever be good enough. Does he want to take that risk?

teok · Aug 13, 2020

AberdeenYid said:
He’s in a bit of a no win situation.

I think he has already won. (y)

Spurs' Pipe Dreams · Aug 13, 2020

spids said:
Right, I've not had many "D'oh", "Optimistic", "Creative" ratings for a while, but I am bored and feeling speculative ....

Bale earns £600k per week, £31.2M per year before tax.

If he stays at Madrid until his contract ends in 2022 he will cost them another £62.4M in salary (exc. bonuses).

If he leaves Real Madrid he will not want to lose money, so needs to earn £62.4M in the next two years.

Real Madrid could buy him out of his contract by paying him half of his outstanding contract (£31.2M), with a new club paying him the other half in salary (£300k per week).

In this scenario:

Bale is not out of pocket.

Real Madrid save £31.2M.

Bale gets to play football again.

Half of Bale's current salary is £15.6M per year (£300k per week).
If we did that we’d almost certainly have to increase Kane’s salary, and Levy would suddenly have a wage structure that is out of control.

One possible solution would be to pay Bale a signing on fee of £10M, payable over the course of his contract, and then ‘only’ pay him a formal salary of £10.6M per year (or ~£200k per week), which is aligned with Kane’s current deal, and within our current wage structure. Note: Bale will still earn ~£62.4M by June 2022. One could also argue we do not need backup to Kane if we have Bale, so the ~£15M fee and 70k per week (£3.6M per year) ear marked for someone like Wilson could contribute to our £31.2M costs.

Lots of ifs and buts, and incredibly unlikely, but Levy could try and sell it to Real Madrid and Bale (and Bale’s agent) as there are really no losers in that scenario, unless Real Madrid think they can either re-integrate the player into their first team, or can sell him for a fee.

If Real Madrid do have the financial issues being reported in some quarters they may not be able to say no. Yes, Bale has a great life in Spain. But he could come back 'home' for two years, play in the best stadium in the world , for fans who adore him, and he can play golf with Kane. Then he can retire to Spain in 2 or 3 years knowing he did not throw his short career away having formed part of an incredibly potent front line in an amazing counter attacking team under Mourinho.

Lloris
RB Alderweireld Dier Davies
Hojbjerg LoCelso
CAM
Bale----Kane----Son

Disclaimer: I know there is no chance this will happen but it killed 15 mins of time before I started work.

I don't think Bale would take a 2-year contract, best for all parties to do it on a loan basis, as at the end Bale is a free agent and will get one last massive payday, assuming that he is still fit and plays well for whoever he goes on loan to.

We all know it won't happen but this is what transfer windows are all about, wild speculation, sometimes it's more enjoyable than the football itself

SpursTillIDie1882 · Aug 13, 2020

mr ashley said:
I’m surprised that Gareth doesn’t seem to have that competitive edge anymore.
Id expect that the desire to compete, to win would still be there, and that he would want to play somewhere else, motivated to be the best (and also prove Zidane wrong). He’s the wrong side of 30 so doesn’t have that long left at the top level

That doesn’t mean he has to go where Madrid want him to go. There are options but Gareth has to compromise if he wants a say in it.

If he rides out his contract at Madrid, that will be his last contract in Europe (he might get an offer from the MLS /China/UAE).
But sitting on his arse and taking the money is effectively retiring - no one else will touch him. It’s the same with Ozil.

I think he’s being badly advised

I dont think he is badly advised, im sure he is well aware but its a mexican standoff situation / or its about who folds first in a game of poker bluff.. Real using dirty tactics with PR negativity about bale, sullying his name hoping he will fold, they need him too as its costing 60m to real , even more huge now due to covid ...Bale n co know this, are real willing to lose circa 60m to spite or destroy the remainder of his career? ... Real have more to lose and causes them more pain and hassle.. Bales is not being bullied, he made that clear with the Wales Flag dig he did...

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