DublinSpur
Scott Parker
Re: Gareth Bale
The question is kind of moot. No way is anyone offering 85-90 million for Bale. The media just wants ever-bigger stories to tell.
The question is though... how low will Levy go? Is £50m enough? It's a hell of a lot of money, but could we fill the gap he'd leave behind for that money? And not just on the field. But also in terms of club pulling-power, media profile and so on. How much money will Bale bring to Spurs in terms of merchandise? How much extra will sponsors be willing to pay if they get to associate their brand with Bale? That's bound to knock a few million off the £50m fee.
And will the presence of Bale tip the balance in our favour if David Villa has to choose between us and Liverpool? Or if not Villa, then some other player that would improve our squad? And would AVB view the sale of Bale as a betrayal? What price do you put on that?
Is £50m enough? £55m?
From my perspective, I want to see Bale improve even further, and I want to see him do it in a Spurs shirt. My enduring memory of growing up as a Spurs fan is watching Glenn Hoddle play. My most important Spurs memories are not individual victories... not even cup final wins (though they're good memories too of course). No, it's the fact that I regularly got to see one of the greatest players of his - or any - generation spend the best years of his career playing for Spurs.
We've got that opportunity again with Bale, and it's not an opportunity we get as often as I'd like at Spurs. You're right of course, that from a long-term business sense, and maybe even in terms of success on the field, even Bale has his price and at some point the offer gets so big that Levy would be irresponsible to turn it down. But it's cold logic that tells me that... and for me football is about more than that... it's about wanting to watch world-class players turn out for Spurs every week. And that's less likely to happen if we sell Bale. Whatever the money.
The question is kind of moot. No way is anyone offering 85-90 million for Bale. The media just wants ever-bigger stories to tell.
The question is though... how low will Levy go? Is £50m enough? It's a hell of a lot of money, but could we fill the gap he'd leave behind for that money? And not just on the field. But also in terms of club pulling-power, media profile and so on. How much money will Bale bring to Spurs in terms of merchandise? How much extra will sponsors be willing to pay if they get to associate their brand with Bale? That's bound to knock a few million off the £50m fee.
And will the presence of Bale tip the balance in our favour if David Villa has to choose between us and Liverpool? Or if not Villa, then some other player that would improve our squad? And would AVB view the sale of Bale as a betrayal? What price do you put on that?
Is £50m enough? £55m?
From my perspective, I want to see Bale improve even further, and I want to see him do it in a Spurs shirt. My enduring memory of growing up as a Spurs fan is watching Glenn Hoddle play. My most important Spurs memories are not individual victories... not even cup final wins (though they're good memories too of course). No, it's the fact that I regularly got to see one of the greatest players of his - or any - generation spend the best years of his career playing for Spurs.
We've got that opportunity again with Bale, and it's not an opportunity we get as often as I'd like at Spurs. You're right of course, that from a long-term business sense, and maybe even in terms of success on the field, even Bale has his price and at some point the offer gets so big that Levy would be irresponsible to turn it down. But it's cold logic that tells me that... and for me football is about more than that... it's about wanting to watch world-class players turn out for Spurs every week. And that's less likely to happen if we sell Bale. Whatever the money.
