Real Madrid: Potential Gareth Bale transfer destinations
By Zack Nelson
Transfer rumors about Gareth Bale’s potential move away from Real Madrid have ramped up yet again, but if there was ever a time where we could actually see a move happen, it’s this summer.
Gareth Bale turns 29 in July, so he realistically only has a couple of prime years left. In his 5 seasons in the Spanish capital, he’s had to deal with a multitude of injuries, boos from his own fans, and plenty of competition for his starting spot.
Due to the fact that Bale plays with all of this other talent around him, it’s easy to forget just how great of a player he really is. In his 5 years at Madrid, he’s scored 63 goals and dished out 34 assists in La Liga in just over 9,000 minutes – that’s about 1 goal/assist per game.
But now that Bale is struggling to get regular minutes behind Isco, Marco Asensio, and now even Lucas Vazquez, it’s probably time for the Welshman to move on to greener pastures.
Without further ado, here are the 4 most likely destinations.
Manchester United
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Manchester United has needed a right winger for years now, and they may finally be getting one at long last in Gareth Bale.
For the past few years, United has been using a rotating cast of Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, and Marcus Rashford to occupy the right-hand side. They’re all solid players in their own right, but none of them are really wingers, and adding someone like Bale would be crucial to balancing the team out.
He and Alexis Sanchez would provide width in the attacking third as well as stretch the field vertically, giving Paul Pogba more space to create and allowing him to finally turn into the player that we all expect him to be.
Bayern Munich
There’s been a lot of speculation lately that Real Madrid will be offering Gareth Bale in a swap move for Robert Lewandowski. Personally, I don’t buy it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Bayern bought Bale outright.
Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are both 34 now, so they’ll need to bring in some reinforcements in the near future, and there won’t be a better winger available this summer than Gareth Bale. It’s complete speculation, but the move definitely makes sense.
Chelsea
Chelsea is another team that Bale has been linked with, but with the uncertainty surrounding their managerial situation and probable lack of Champions League next year (especially if they don’t beat Tottenham this weekend), Chelsea isn’t really an attractive option for a 29-year-old who wants to keep playing at the highest level.
That being said, Chelsea is still one of the biggest clubs in the world, and they’re certainly not lacking the resources it would take to buy him. If Eden Hazard really does leave Chelsea for Real Madrid, we could very well see Bale heading in the other direction.
Tottenham
The media must really love making rumors about swap-deals, because it’s also been speculated that Real Madrid will be sending Gareth Bale along with a large sum of cash over to North London in exchange for Harry Kane.
This is a wildcard move, but it could actually be very beneficial for all parties. Madrid obviously gets one of the best young strikers in the world, and Bale gets to return to the club where he made a name for himself. It’s a place he’s familiar with, comfortable playing at, and he won’t be getting booed by his own fans.
Additionally for Tottenham, Harry Kane is not going to be cheap. I mean, he was just given a higher value than Lionel Messi in a recent study by the CIES Football Observatory. Even with Bale being part of the deal, Spurs would still have plenty of money left over to buy a quality replacement for Harry Kane, and there should be plenty of those available this summer.
Mauro Icardi, Ciro Immobile, Timo Werner, and Andrea Belotti are all very realistic targets that come to mind. Or maybe Real Madrid throws in Benzema as part of the deal as well. Alexandre Lacazette and Anthony Martial are looking increasingly likely to be available this summer too, but they’d be difficult to buy considering they’d be coming from Premier League rivals.
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Regardless, there are a ton of possibilities, and even though losing Harry Kane would be painful for Spurs fans, getting Bale and a quality striker for him could ultimately be better in the long-run.