Image Courtesy to Tottenham Hotspur Official Facebook Page
In a drastic turn of events, it looks like the 24-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gareth Bale may sign a six-year contract with La Liga club Real Madrid. According to Fox Soccer, Tottenham manager Andres Villas-Boas stated early Tuesday morning that Gareth Bale was not for sale. He specifically went on to clarify that Bale was staying at Tottenham to catapult the Premier League squad into the Champions League next season.
If Bale is actually headed to Real Madrid for the 2013-2014 soccer season and if Cristiano Ronaldo stays at the Bernabeu, Real may be able to step up their game to capture a Champions League title. Madrid’s main contenders in the Champions League, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich, each signed a young star this offseason. Brazilian sensation Neymar Jr. transferred from Santos to Barcelona, while German superstar Mario Gotze moved from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern.
How does Bale measure up to Neymar and Mario Gotze? Well, each of these players brings something a little bit different to the table. Neymar is probably the most flashy of all three of these players; his dribbling is astonishing, and he’s recognized for his “highlight reel” style of play. Some may argue that he will be the best player in the world once Lionel Messi and Ronaldo are retired from soccer. Bayern’s Mario Gotze boasts fantastic playmaking abilities in the midfield and also demonstrates some excellent dribbling skills.
Gotze displays amazing vision for a player of his age, and he should be a welcomed addition to Bayern’s aging midfield. Tottenham’s prized possession, Gareth Bale, is a big, strong winger that uses his extraordinary speed and superb crossing capabilities to tear up opposing defenses in the Premier League. He boasts a distinctive long shot and is widely known for his pinpoint free kicks.
The Bale-Ronaldo pair for Real seems equally as formidable as the Neymar-Messi pair for Barcelona. Obviously, Messi is the greatest in the game right now, and Neymar seems most likely to succeed him; however, Ronaldo and Bale have such a similar style of play that they should be able to connect extremely well on the pitch. You can’t forget about Bayern either, with Gotze and the rest of their stacked midfield. It will be a very entertaining to watch these three world-class teams go head-to-head next year.
