When is the Right Time to Bale Out?

He lit up the Lane during the last season, scoring goal of the season contenders every other match and winning games single handedly to try and lift us to those Champions League places, and who knows without injuries to key players or a 20 goal a season striker in our ranks it may have been a different story. This lead to vast speculation about Gareth Bale’s future linking him to all the European heavy weights, and most Tottenham fan’s fears became reality last week when it was announced that Real Madrid have tabled a world record £85 million pound bid and suggestions in the media that the player is ready to move on. However on Saturday, Andre Villas-Boas’ strongly denied the rumours that Gareth will move on and told press that he was very much in our future plans. What is certain is that Daniel Levy has and important decision to make on whether to cash in now or keep the player for another season or two to continue our push to the top 4, however either decision represents great risk for the future of the club.

The first option that Daniel Levy could take would be to bow in Real Madrid’s pressure and take the offer in excess of £80 million and sell the player. Most spurs fans have now come to terms with the fact that Gareth will move on to better things in the not so distant future so if it were to happen now it would stop the media frenzy and allow us the accept that he’s gone, thank him for his six seasons at the club, wish him well in his future and focus hard on replacing him. However, my main concern with selling him now is who would replace a player of Gareth’s attitude and class; my top replacement for him would be Roma’s Erik Lamela. 3 years Bale’s junior, Lamela is a skillful tricky player with European experience and a goal return of 15 goals in 33 games for Roma last season, and although he seems a ready made replacement he will come at a cost which is thought to be around £30 million pounds and there is no guarantee that he could adapt to the physicality of the premier league or repeat the performances that he did last season at the Stadio Olimpico.

The next option is that Daniel Levy sticks to his guns similar to how he did 2 years ago with Luka Modric and keep the player at all costs. Unlike Modric, Levy knows that Bale is a special player and understands that he would be hard to replace and with him in the team we can challenge for the Champions League places or potentially even the title. However, to challenge for the title Levy would have to make further additions to Paulinho, Chadli and Roberto Soldado who we have already purchased earlier on in the window, but with those players, Bale and a bit more strength in depth there is no reason why Tottenham can’t challenge for the league. Bale and Soldado scored 56 goals together in there respective leagues, so with that sort of injection up front a title challenge seems even more likely. Another reason to keep Bale is that it is good PR for the club, Gareth is hot property now becoming the face of BT sport and the first Spurs player ever to feature on the cover of the FIFA franchise, Bale features in Tottenham colours on all of his advertisements so it is showing that the club is growing in reputation worldwide and more importantly increasing the funds in the clubs finances.

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