Bale in Barça swoop?

The Daily Mirror have reported that Barcelona are preparing a summer move for Tottenham winger Gareth Bale, but unusually for only £25 million. According to the reports Pep Guardiola has discussed the possibility of strengthening the left side of his team.

Guardiola has short listed three potential summer moves, including Jordi Alba of Valencia and Thiago Silva of AC Milan. Bale tops the list though and Barça are preparing a range of offer options if Spurs reject their £25 million offer.

Some of these deals include a player plus cash deal which could see out of favour players such as Seydou Keita and Maxwell heading to White Hart Lane. Although a reluctant Redknapp will not be willing to lose his star player for a fee as small as £25 million no matter which Barça reserve player is offered as part of the deal.

Barça will have to raise funds if they really want the Welsh winger. If you look at how much Tottenham valued their Croation midfielder Modric last summer, I can't see how they would accept an offer unless it's in the region of £50 million.

Also Bale himself will be conscious of the negatives of a switch to the Catalan giants. In his current role Bale has the freedom to switch across the play and have a play-where-you-want role, but as most players know when you switch to Barceloma you have to adapt with the other world class players that play around you. A prominent example being David Villa who had to adapt to a left winger role to cope with Lionel Messi taking centre stage.

I don't believe Bale will move this summer. I think he will be advised to see out his current contract at Spurs and gain the experience that is vital in becoming one of the world's best. Although that could all change if Barcelona put down an offer Redkanpp can't refuse.

Comments

Brazillian wonder-kid arriving at Barça?

Neymar's future has been uncertain for a long time now. Clubs from every top European league seem to be queuing up for his signature. But the speculation is drawing to a close and the fight for Neymar's signature has turned into a two horse race between the Spanish giants. This will all have to wait until 2014 as Neymar recently snubbed the transfer talk and extended his contract with current club Santos. That doesn't mean Real and Barça can't fight for the first chance to sign the 19 year old. It was recently reported that Barcelona have agreed a fee with Santos for first dibs at Neymar. But any deal that Barça would try to carve out will be met by competition from Real Madrid as well as a hefty price tag. Neymar is currently on £90,000 a week wages in an attempt to see off the European clubs but Barça will try to combat that by offering a deal worth €7 million euros a year. This would put him in the same wage bracket as World Cup winners David Villa and Xavi. Ne...

Madrid's meltdown gives Barça a route to the title

Real Madrid boss, José Mourinho, could be the unlikeliest source of Barcelona's hope in retaining their league title. Spanish newspaper Marca recently obtained access to a Real Madrid training session, more importantly a training session in which Mourinho and Sergio Ramos exchanged insults in a war of words. The newspaper ran the transcript of the argument not only between Mourinho and Ramos but also club captain Casillas. Heavy words were thrown between both parties and it all stemmed from the marking of Carles Puyol. Or the lack of marking in Mourinho's opinion. Ramos explained that he and Pepe made the decision to switch defensive duties because Gerard Piqué was looking the most dangerous so Ramos should mark him instead of Puyol, who Pepe will now pick up. Mourinho reacted angrily at this asking Ramos "So you're the manager as well now then?" This question caused Ramos to also react angrily explaining “Depending on the match situation, sometimes it’s neces...

Rotation, rotation, rotation: How does Valverde keep his squad happy?

For most FIFA career mode players, there will come a point where you simply have too many superstars to fit into the starting XI. Antoine Griezmann playing in the Joan Gamper trophy Due to practical issues such as money and the fact real humans can not be told to go away by the mere tap of an A button, this is rarely a luxury afford to real life managers. But for Ernesto Valverde, going in to what could potentially be his final season at the club, this is his reality. He can boast one of the most star-laden teams in Europe but the problem remains the same. How does 23 fit into 11? Barcelona's summer recruitment involved the arrivals of Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong to an increasingly busy forward line and midfield three, meaning Valverde must begin the plate-spinning akin task of trying to keep everyone happy. His preference for a 4-4-2 last season could either have been one of choice or one of necessity as Ousmane Dembélé struggled with injuries but it seems u...

A Barça Blog

Search This Blog