Odds Collapse On Gareth Bale To Stay At Spurs

The speculation throughout the summer that Gareth Bale would be joining Real Madrid for an astronomical sum of money had everyone convinced other than Spurs fans until a week ago. Until then, despite the speculation, Gareth Bale was still odds on to stay at White Hart Lane for another season at least. This all changed late last week and until Thursday morning he was available at 9/2 to leave Spurs in the summer transfer window.

Good news for Spurs fans is that early on Thursday afternoon there was a string of bets on Garth Bale to stay put. Is he about to sign a new contract? Have Spurs told Real Madrid he’s not leaving at any price? Has a deal been struck for him to move to Spain in 12 months time? All of those may be possible but it is a fact that Gareth Bale is now a much shorter price to stay at Spurs than he was 24 hours ago, and the odds continue to shift! He’s now as short as 7/4 to still be a Spurs player when the transfer window closes and even the bookies offering bigger odds only offer 11/4, much less than the 9/2 formerly on offer. Most bookies have already cut their odds on no less than three occasions already today so he could even be odds on to stay by the end of the day.

This means Spurs fans can start getting excited about the season ahead. The transfer of Roberto Soldado to Spurs (subject to medical) was officially announced today meaning Spurs have already spent almost £50m this summer. Retaining Gareth Bale’s services for another season and perhaps adding a new left back to the team and there would be talk of this being the most complete Spurs team in a very long time, one that could perhaps challenge for the league title this season. With Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all yet to make any really significant investments, the fight for the title, and more realistically the top four, could be more open than ever. Spurs are currently 11/5 to finish in the top four whilst Arsenal are 4/6. That is despite Spurs finishing one point behind Arsenal for the last two seasons. That is despite Spurs spending the best part of £50m so far this summer and Arsenal spending nothing.

All this proves perhaps is that bookies aren’t as smart as they think they are. They all got sucked in by the Bale to Madrid talk and hopefully if he stays they’ll be hit hard by Spurs fans making a killing from their bets. If Bale does stay then the 11/5 on a top four finish is huge compared to the odds offered on Arsenal and it will be another opportunity for Spurs fans to take the bookies to the cleaners. Bale may still go but judging by today’s odds movements we could be about to hear some positive news from the club.

What do you make of the odds fluctuation? Will Gareth Bale stay at Spurs for another year? Share your opinion and tips by joining the football community at OLBG.com where £5,000 cash is paid out monthly for tips and tip comments.