Image courtesy of the Tottenham Hotspur Facebook page
Real Madrid has been aggressively pursuing Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gareth Bale despite the Premier League club’s stubborn attitude towards Bale’s sale.
Real supposedly launched a £105 million bid for the Welshman, but the two clubs are still going through talks regarding the young star. If Tottenham accepts this £105 million offer, then Bale’s signing would overtake Real’s transfer fee record of £80 million for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
There are a couple similarities that you can notice right off of the bat between these two players; Ronaldo was 24 years old in 2009 when he left for Madrid, and Bale is 24 years old now in 2013. Also, both footballers had exceptional seasons for their respective Premier League squads–Bale for Tottenham and Ronaldo for Manchester United. In the 2008-09 season, the Portuguese superstar netted 26 goals with United, while the young midfielder from Wales netted the exact same number of goals, 26, for Tottenham this past season.
While Ronaldo’s past displays noticeable similarities to Bale’s present, their style of play right now illustrates even more resemblances between the two players. Both are amazing free-kick specialists, but they actually hit the ball in the exact same way. If you look at highlights or film of Bale and Ronaldo launching fantastic free kicks, you’ll notice that they both crush the ball with the inside of their foot so that the shot can dip and swerve. It’s the combination of remarkable power and curve that make these two phenoms so dangerous on the set piece.
Another noticeable aspect of Ronaldo and Bale’s game is their superb pace and dribbling. Their speed alone is noteworthy; according to the Daily Mail, Bale’s top speed is around 22 mph, while Ronaldo’s climaxed speed is a blazing 24 mph. To truly put both of these speeds to the test, you can look at Usain Bolt’s 100-metre world record time. The Jamaican was clocked at 27 mph when he captured the record, but he doesn’t have the ability to complement his astounding speed with mind-boggling dribbling skills like Bale and Ronaldo do. Now you can understand why opposing defenders have such difficulty dealing with these megastars in one-on-one scenarios.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bale become the next Ronaldo.
