Former Tottenham interim manager, Tim Sherwood has likened Tottenham’s signing of Gareth Bale to Manchester United’s signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic over two years ago.
Reports indicate that Spurs have completed the deal to re-sign Bale on a season-long loan, with a confirmation expected from the club shortly (Football.London).
This is not the first time that Jose Mourinho has opted to sign a superstar in the twilight of his career, with the Portuguese coach pulling of similar deals for the likes of Samuel Eto and Zlatan Ibrahimovich during his time and Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.
While Ibrahimovich’s time at Old Trafford was cut short by injury, the striker found the back of the net 28 times in the only full season he had during his time at the club (transfermarkt.com).
Sherwood backed Bale to lead Spurs to silverware just as the Swede spearheaded Mourinho’s Man Utd team to a League Cup and Europa League title during the 2017/18 season.
Speaking about Tottenham’s deal for the 31-year-old, he told talkSPORT Breakfast: “I think it’s a good deal.
“Spurs didn’t look good [against Everton]. I know it’s hard to be critical after just one game, but they didn’t look fantastic, especially in forward areas.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“We know what Jose is like, he likes big players, he brought Zlatan in on a free transfer when he was at Manchester United and it worked to great effect, they picked up a trophy.
“I think it’s an easy sell to [Spurs chairman] Daniel Levy, because Real Madrid will be absorbing probably around three-quarters of his wages, which still makes him a high earner at Tottenham but it’s a no-brainer to do.
“I don’t think Daniel would need too much convincing, because he knows what he’s done at the club before. Gareth will come in with hero status and is going to lift everyone.
“But the pressure will be on him, because everyone will say, ‘go on Gareth, do what you did before’, which was absolutely incredible.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Adding a player of Bale’s quality is obviously going to make us a more threatening outfit as the Welshman’s pace and directness could help us maximise our transition opportunities. However, the much more important aspect of this signing is what it signals to the rest of the Spurs squad. I believe landing a player of the Welshman’s quality will lift the mood of everyone at Spurs and also prove to the likes of Kane and Son that the club has plenty of ambition.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
