Can Tottenham Afford Gareth Bale?
How much would it cost to buy Gareth Bale back from Real Madrid?
Who do Tottenham sell, or how many players should be sold, to raise enough money so an offer can be made? If Hugo Lloris isn’t enough, is adding in Harry Kane good? How about tossing Christian Eriksen into the mix as well?
Bringing Gareth Bale back is good for a number of reasons.
He would be able to help along the middle and up top in the Spurs formation with his pace, striking ability, dribbling, passing and free kicks. By doing so he would easily be the number one player that clubs would look out for (more on this a little later on).
As soon as Tottenham sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee of £85.3m (€100m) it was clear that his price tag would be out of reach.
If Real Madrid were willing to sell the Welsh international they would want to recoup all, if not a majority, of their money back. So how does Tottenham try to make an offer?
The easiest way — and most ludicrous — is to sell Lloris, Kane and Eriksen.
These would be the most likely candidates that clubs around the world A.) Want to buy off of Tottenham and B.) Will help bring in enough money to facilitate a move for Bale.
“As much as fans want to bring him home it’s obvious Tottenham wouldn’t sell Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Hugo Lloris. Not for anyone and most likely not even for Gareth Bale.”
– Alexander Balano
Now this is just some simple math and not actually the best way to go about buying and/or selling players. If Bale was sold for £85.3m and the price tag for Hugo Lloris is at £35m that puts Spurs almost halfway to making a legit offer. Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen could likely fetch for £25m and £23m respectively.
In total, they would equal £83m and put Spurs £2.3m away from Bale’s £85.3m transfer fee.
But if Tottenham were to pull off a move like this, which is completely far-fetched, who’s going to lead the attack for Spurs? Will Gareth Bale take over Harry Kane’s role?
If Bale returns, naturally he’ll play his winger position on the left, meaning Nacer Chadli would be on the bench. If Spurs shifted him to the right instead, Erik Lamela and Andros Townsend would both be benched.
Let’s say Bale played in the middle, Chadli and Lamela would both start alongside him but who would be the lone striker? What if Gareth Bale was the striker instead and either Tom Carroll or Alex Pritchard plays the attacking midfielder?
It’s good to have depth such as Tom Carroll and Alex Pritchard, however the club would still be down three crucial players in Kane, Lloris and Eriksen.
What if Gareth’s abilities with Carroll, Pritchard, Chadli and Lamela were enough to only see a slight dip in overall form?
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As described earlier, his pace and striking ability would put defenses in trouble. He’d run by defenders and put a shot on target or near it, being able to strike from anywhere. His dribbling and passing, would be hard to defend as well. All of those players are good passers and can all score — just not as consistent.
But because of the current set up with Mauricio Pochettino, Paul Mitchell and Daniel Levy a possible Gareth Bale reunion is unlikely. As much as fans want to bring him home it’s obvious Tottenham wouldn’t sell Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Hugo Lloris. Not for anyone and most likely not even for Gareth Bale.
To lose three star players and only bring back one isn’t smart. Which means Tottenham can’t afford to buy Gareth Bale and he won’t return to White Hart Lane unless it’s with a different Premier League club.