Bale price tag a bit too much? Not really

Kgothatso Madisa

@kgmadisa

Gareth Bale. Picture: Real Madrid

Gareth Bale has finally completed his long anticipated move from Tottenham Hotspur to Spain giants Real Madrid.

Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett says that playing for Madrid has always been his dream, he started talking about it since he was 16 years-old.

Barnett says that this particular transfer has proven to be one of the longest and probably most difficult transfers in his career as an agent because of the price tag and other factors.

There aren’t a lot of transfers that capture so much attention from football fans, only a few really manage to get everybody’s undivided interest.

For instance, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2012 from AC Milan for €20 million, it does not seem like a lot but it made him the most expensive footballer when it comes to transfer fees.

Another transfer that made headlines was that of Robin van Persie from Arsenal to Manchester United, not necessarily because of the £22.5 million four-year contract but because of the rivalry between the two teams. Gunners fans saw him as a traitor for moving to the foe camp.

Then we had Cristiano Ronaldo who became the most expensive footballer in 2009 when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid for £80 million. He has since been the most expensive, until now.

Gareth Bale. Picture: Soccerlens.com

After four years, Gareth Bale has managed to unseat Ronaldo as the most expensive after joining Madrid for a reported £85 million, £5million more than the Portuguese player. Surely that won’t sit well with Ronaldo.

Bale’s agent says that Madrid were ready to folk out any fee it would require to get his player.

“It became obvious very early on that Real Madrid were determined to get it done and had no concerns about paying such a remarkable transfer fee,” said Barnett.

There are however a lot of questions and qualms over Bale’s price tag, one of them being “Is he worth that much?”

A lot of these were trending on social mediums with a lot of fans saying that Bale has not broken any record since making his way into professional football. Others saying that he is still a rookie for such a fee.

I once wrote a piece on how the football fraternity rate world class players and Bale made it into top five. Here’s the list:-

1. Lionel Messi – FC Barcelona

2. Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid

3. Robin van Persie - Manchester United

4. Gareth Bale – Tottenham Hotspur 

5. Andres Iniesta – FC Barcelona

He also made to top ten nominated players for UEFA’s Best Player in Europe. He was nominated in the 7th place.

Gareth Bale. Picture: Mirror.co.uk

Although Bale has not broken any record (thus far), he is a highly regarded footballer. He has won PFA’s Young Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year, 2x PFA Player of the Year, 2x FWA Footballer of the Year, FA Cup’s Player of the Round, Welsh Player of the Year.

These accolades and more were all achieved between seasons 2010-11 and 2012-13, that’s just three seasons.

What makes Gareth Bale a world class player and worthy of the price tag is that he has achieved so much in such a short period and at the age of 24 years he still has a lot of time to grow.

Although the price tag under his name may seem a bit extravagant, it is really not. He is definitely one player to watch this season, especially in the UEFA Champions League.