Gareth Bale Returns To Spurs On Loan

[Harry]

1 hour ago, 6666 said:

He'd be crazy not to take that deal for at least a year.

And yet when you've been on 600k per week for five years what's a bit more cash actually worth?

[Mel81x+]

3 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

For me a move to China will just give me more fuel to throw shit at him although I’m still living in hope that he takes the swap deal with PSG for Neymar going the other way... If it’s actually true!

Not that PSG is very different to China (with all due respects to the genuine historic clubs in France) as Neymar found out. But at least I won’t see that geezer (Neymar) putting on the Barça jersey ever again.

Its the most lucrative deal for PSG because they get to offload a player and get a potentially good replacement (despite his monkey-antics). I think PSG would suit the Welshman as well because its not like they have a bad team in any shape or form and he'd certainly get more game time there as well.

[Harry]

15 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Gareth Bale’s agent;

”This has been a very surreal day. On the Bale swap with Neymar deal? (laughter and a  look of incredulity) I have absolutely no idea! This is news to me.”

Zidanes been cuthroat here. Obviously trying to jump start a move doing everything other than say "Gareth Bale fire same. All reasonable offers accepted"

[Harry]

Just now, Mel81x said:

Its the most lucrative deal for PSG because they get to offload a player and get a potentially good replacement (despite his monkey-antics). I think PSG would suit the Welshman as well because its not like they have a bad team in any shape or form and he'd certainly get more game time there as well.

It's a deal that would closely resemble an outcome that's good for all parties. 

Bale can switch to not learning French, and maintaining stubborn Britishness in the city of Paris. Play good football. Have a chance to beat Zidane in the Champions league. PSG don't cave to Barca. Barca's fans don't have to try to make peace with Neymar. Zidane gets a very formidable player in attack.

[Mel81x+]

2 minutes ago, Harry said:

It's a deal that would closely resemble an outcome that's good for all parties. 

Bale can switch to not learning French, and maintaining stubborn Britishness in the city of Paris. Play good football. Have a chance to beat Zidane in the Champions league. PSG don't cave to Barca. Barca's fans don't have to try to make peace with Neymar. Zidane gets a very formidable player in attack.

The only X factor in all of that is what PSG value their deal as. The real winner at the end of the day is Neymar. He seems to have gotten away with all his rotten behavior and will get a move to a very big club (arguably the biggest Champions League wise) and in return Real get to on-board another star to boost t-shirt sales. Zidane will get fucked to the side if he has any issues because Perez will tell him you either take this or find a way to deal with it. Ideally he'd want to go to Barcelona just because I doubt Zidane will want to put up with his behavior as is clear from what he thought of and is now doing to Bale. 

[SirBalon]

1 hour ago, Mel81x said:

The only X factor in all of that is what PSG value their deal as. The real winner at the end of the day is Neymar. He seems to have gotten away with all his rotten behavior and will get a move to a very big club (arguably the biggest Champions League wise) and in return Real get to on-board another star to boost t-shirt sales. Zidane will get fucked to the side if he has any issues because Perez will tell him you either take this or find a way to deal with it. Ideally he'd want to go to Barcelona just because I doubt Zidane will want to put up with his behavior as is clear from what he thought of and is now doing to Bale. 

Neymar is dying to go back to Barça, of this there is no doubt whatsoever. He now knows the dimensions of his error two years back and all those that persuaded him to make such a move which had no sense whatsoever. Piqué told Neymar at the time... “If you make this move you’d better win the Champions League or else you will he invisible.”

The reason why PSG want to sell to Real Madrid is so as PSG aren’t seen as losing face as they hate Barcelona (they will tell us all it’s about Barça going for their players like Thiago Silva and subsequently Marco Verratti, but the issue is deeper than that. It’s to do with how Barcelona dumped all association with Qatar). The only other club that can sign Neymar is Manchester United and he doesn’t want to go there under any circumstances.

So there’s only the Real Madrid option. The thing is that the Mbappé possibility in the future doesn’t just come from Real Madrid but also Barça and a couple of English clubs. Mbappé has just renewed with a billion dollar new contract that paves the way for Neymar to leave.

[Mel81x+]

4 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Neymar is dying to go back to Barça, of this there is no doubt whatsoever. He now knows the dimensions of his error two years back and all those that persuaded him to make such a move which had no sense whatsoever. Piqué told Neymar at the time... “If you make this move you’d better win the Champions League or else you will he invisible.”

The reason why PSG want to sell to Real Madrid is so as PSG aren’t seen as losing face as they hate Barcelona (they will tell us all it’s about Barça going for their players like Thiago Silva and subsequently Marco Verratti, but the issue is deeper than that. It’s to do with how Barcelona dumped all association with Qatar). The only other club that can sign Neymar is Manchester United and he doesn’t want to go there under any circumstances.

So there’s only the Real Madrid option. The thing is that the Mbappé possibility in the future doesn’t just come from Real Madrid but also Barça and a couple of English clubs. Mbappé has just renewed with a billion dollar new contract that paves the way for Neymar to leave.

They surely do hate Barcelona and it does stem from the Qatar Foundation more than PSG as they are the controlling party here but then you have to ask yourself also whats better for PSG in the longer run. Getting a potential dud like Bale or going for a dual swap in Coutinho and Dembele which gives them a younger crop to work from for the future as well. PSG will have to weigh all their options here namely, how much can we recover, how badly do we value our hatred for a club versus getting potential growth and the most important thing regarding the close of the transfer window getting closer.

[Harry]

6 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

They surely do hate Barcelona and it does stem from the Qatar Foundation more than PSG as they are the controlling party here but then you have to ask yourself also whats better for PSG in the longer run. Getting a potential dud like Bale or going for a dual swap in Coutinho and Dembele which gives them a younger crop to work from for the future as well. PSG will have to weigh all their options here namely, how much can we recover, how badly do we value our hatred for a club versus getting potential growth and the most important thing regarding the close of the transfer window getting closer.

Has Barca offered Coutinho and Dembele?

That's two handy players, with some cash on the side you could see that being a reasonable deal for PSG.

[Mel81x+]

19 minutes ago, Harry said:

Has Barca offered Coutinho and Dembele?

That's two handy players, with some cash on the side you could see that being a reasonable deal for PSG.

Thats the news i thought was doing the rounds for him coming to Barcelona.

[Harry]

I heard Phil and Rakitic plus 40m.

[SirBalon]

48 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

They surely do hate Barcelona and it does stem from the Qatar Foundation more than PSG as they are the controlling party here but then you have to ask yourself also whats better for PSG in the longer run. Getting a potential dud like Bale or going for a dual swap in Coutinho and Dembele which gives them a younger crop to work from for the future as well. PSG will have to weigh all their options here namely, how much can we recover, how badly do we value our hatred for a club versus getting potential growth and the most important thing regarding the close of the transfer window getting closer.

We also have to take into account that when PSG signed Neymar they (PSG) couldn’t afford both the transfer fee (€222) + his extraordinary salary. Take note of this next bit... So what Paris Saint-Germain did was to get the state of Qatar to fund the salary under the disguise of being an ambassador for Qatari Sports Foundation (in reality it’s QSI) and also the Qatar World Cup. Because under European football law (UEFA) a club MUST be seen to be paying a salary and state funding is illegal, the club itself have paid him a minimum wage to supplement the over €35m he earns in total.

This is why Barcelona at the time went crazy because the whole deal is very dodgy and also why the issue spent over a year being investigated by UEFA (ahem).

So PSG have quite a number of holes to fill if Neymar were to go back to Barcelona in any way shape or form aside from the fact of saving face which had a social media battle of humiliation thrown at Barça.

18 minutes ago, Harry said:

I heard Phil and Rakitic plus 40m.

That’s the main rumour although the Dembélé one has been out there too. FC Barcelona deny absolutely any offer at all and will only admit to having enquired if he is indeed up for sale which has been refused officially. I don’t believe any side in all of this including Barcelona.

Whatever happens Paris Saint-Germain lose. Getting Bale who is essentially a dud and hasn’t got an ounce of the natural talent Neymar has doesn’t work at all in the real world although they would sell the whole deal as a success with the added smirk of Neymar not returning to Barcelona. But as I said... PSG never win in this!

A morbid side to me would love to see Neymar return to the Camp Nou as a Real Madrid player. If anyone thought the Figo treatment was hell on earth, that will have been nothing but a grain of sand in the reality of the whole thing. Plus the fact Spanish culture is very visceral and they’d let Neymar know in every single football stadium Real Madrid visit in La Liga.

[Mel81x+]

30 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

We also have to take into account that when PSG signed Neymar they (PSG) couldn’t afford both the transfer fee (€222) + his extraordinary salary. Take note of this next bit... So what Paris Saint-Germain did was to get the state of Qatar to fund the salary under the disguise of being an ambassador for Qatari Sports Foundation (in reality it’s QSI) and also the Qatar World Cup. Because under European football law (UEFA) a club MUST be seen to be paying a salary and state funding is illegal, the club itself have paid him a minimum wage to supplement the over €35m he earns in total.

This is why Barcelona at the time went crazy because the whole deal is very dodgy and also why the issue spent over a year being investigated by UEFA (ahem).

So PSG have quite a number of holes to fill if Neymar were to go back to Barcelona in any way shape or form aside from the fact of saving face which had a social media battle of humiliation thrown at Barça.

QSI was always going to operate under some kind of moniker to let the state of Qatar finance things to operate at a level where they had their hand in things at all stages. After all, this country is trying to gain the empathy and power of UEFA and FIFA to let the WC happen as per their terms and what better way than to start helping out one of its own investment blocks run a preposterous deal with PSG. PSG won't be winning here at all if they do the swap with Barca only because I think a swap doesn't patch over the financial problems they'll incur as part of it. Offsetting that much cash means the club has to show astronomical profits or spend less in their acquisitions (which they'll never do lets be honest). Also with Mbappe signing a new deal they have to start offloading soon or they're not going to be able to get UEFA off their backs with FFP. 

All in all, I think they'll get rid of Neymar this week and his destination won't matter with the only deciding factor being money. He's a nobody to them and they'd rather get rid of him than keep him. If I was at PSG I'd take Coutinho and Dembele vs Bale. The latter is swapping one rotten apple with another and it would also make sure they can lessen recruiting if they work out.

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, SirBalon said:

For me a move to China will just give me more fuel to throw shit at him although I’m still living in hope that he takes the swap deal with PSG for Neymar going the other way... If it’s actually true!

Not that PSG is very different to China (with all due respects to the genuine historic clubs in France) as Neymar found out. But at least I won’t see that geezer (Neymar) putting on the Barça jersey ever again.

PSG is very different to China, they play in Liguria Un and the champions league. Whereas the standard of football in China is below MLS football, which is somewhere weird like between  League One and the Championship imo.

[SirBalon]

33 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

PSG is very different to China, they play in Liguria Un and the champions league. Whereas the standard of football in China is below MLS football, which is somewhere weird like between  League One and the Championship imo.

I meant being at PSG itself mate (the present guise of Paris Saint-Germain under Qatari state control). Which is why I exempted the extremely rich but subdued history of so many French clubs. 

[SirBalon]

It doesn’t belong here but it’s related to this particular transfer saga in many ways and it’s already arisen here so I’ll put the latest on the Mbappé contract renewal issue...

It seems PSG were too quick to announce the contract renewal of Kylian Mbappé. Nothing has been signed yet in the multi million Euro deal which would see him as the highest paid footballer on earth. He has refused to sign and right now there are rumours that he wants to leave too. 

[Mel81x+]

3 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

It doesn’t belong here but it’s related to this particular transfer saga in many ways and it’s already arisen here so I’ll put the latest on the Mbappé contract renewal issue...

It seems PSG were too quick to announce the contract renewal of Kylian Mbappé. Nothing has been signed yet in the multi million Euro deal which would see him as the highest paid footballer on earth. He has refused to sign and right now there are rumours that he wants to leave too. 

Except it has ramifications on who they choose to bring over. Wasn't he unhappy a while back and wanted a move back then too? 

[SirBalon]

20 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

Except it has ramifications on who they choose to bring over. Wasn't he unhappy a while back and wanted a move back then too? 

He’s wanted to leave all along which leads us to the question as to why he moved from Monaco to PSG!

Well, we all know why. I have no sympathy for any of this lot.

[Mel81x+]

17 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

He’s wanted to leave all along which leads us to the question as to why he moved from Monaco to PSG!

Well, we all know why. I have no sympathy for any of this lot.

TBF to the kid he is young and probably thought with the people coming in that he'd win European Silverware which is quite true. Even Bale would look twice a few years ago when they started this building project of theirs. Now that everyone has seen what they are offering versus what's really happening everyone is going to think twice (hindsight and the lot). But, it does make me curious how he got even more vocal once Neymar started his little tantrum for his exit. Then you have to go back to the Bale acquisition prospect as well and surely Leonardo doesn't want any of this at the club.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, SirBalon said:

I meant being at PSG itself mate (the present guise of Paris Saint-Germain under Qatari state control). Which is why I exempted the extremely rich but subdued history of so many French clubs. 

PSG (and City) are pretty different IMO to China's push to recruit better players and bigger names to their league, so that Chinese players play against players of a higher standard for their national team. I'm sure the league in China is (at least partially) state run, but the clubs aren't - I think the biggest side there is owned by the Evergrande Group, which is a Chinese company - but it's not state run (in fact it's incorporated in the Cayman Islands, as a lot of Chinese headquartered private businesses are).

[SirBalon]

4 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

PSG (and City) are pretty different IMO to China's push to recruit better players and bigger names to their league, so that Chinese players play against players of a higher standard for their national team. I'm sure the league in China is (at least partially) state run, but the clubs aren't - I think the biggest side there is owned by the Evergrande Group, which is a Chinese company - but it's not state run (in fact it's incorporated in the Cayman Islands, as a lot of Chinese headquartered private businesses are).

It’s quite difficult to ascertain where the State of China dip their hands in and how much they do it with anything Chinese. Look at the suspicions surrounding Huawei and how much power the Chinese government have to be able to obtain info from that company.

It is different but we all know how hard the Gulf nations are trying to get the West to accept them as another partner.

[El Profesor]

3 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

PSG is very different to China, they play in Liguria Un and the champions league. Whereas the standard of football in China is below MLS football, which is somewhere weird like between  League One and the Championship imo.

 

Agree. For starters, living in an authoritarian state like China and living in France are very different things. Yes, PSG is a front to strenghten Qatar´s soft-power, but the club is still located in Paris. 

In my opinion, PSG actually can be a pretty good destination. Cavani for example did well to go there, he is revered by PSG fans and built a great career there. 

The Neymar transfer didn´t work out, but in my opinion this is in good part because Neymar is a spoiled unprofessional brat. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

14 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

It’s quite difficult to ascertain where the State of China dip their hands in and how much they do it with anything Chinese. Look at the suspicions surrounding Huawei and how much power the Chinese government have to be able to obtain info from that company.

It is different but we all know how hard the Gulf nations are trying to get the West to accept them as another partner.

Huawei's a technology CEO was a former Chinese army intelligence officer. Evergrande are a real estate development company that as far as I know just has businesspeople as it's shareholders and officers. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that a Chinese developer that primarily operates in China may be doing surveillance for the Chinese government... but I think it's far less likely than a technology and technology infrastructure provider headed by a former intelligence officer.

PSG and City are just PR campaigns for gulf nation regimes, but if China's government is involved in Chinese football (and it is, we can see that pretty clearly tbh - but in their league more than the individual sides) their end goal is simply to try to make their national team not be as shite as it currently is. Different goals entirely, and at least China isn't fucking up European leagues. It seems like they just want to be the next MLS in terms of "top retirement league."

[Dr. Gonzo]

5 minutes ago, El Profesor said:

 

Agree. For starters, living in an authoritarian state like China and living in France are very different things. Yes, PSG is a front to strenghten Qatar´s soft-power, but the club is still located in Paris. 

In my opinion, PSG actually can be a pretty good destination. Cavani for example did well to go there, he is revered by PSG fans and built a great career there. 

The Neymar transfer didn´t work out, but in my opinion this is in good part because Neymar is a spoiled unprofessional brat. 

Lol you quoting me made me see the auto correct my phone did for Ligue 1 and it's hilarious.

But I agree with you completely. I think @SirBalon has a particular dislike for PSG because of the Neymar transfer and them using money to bully Barca to get what they want, tbh... because I don't see much different from them to the other mega money clubs, in all honesty. Is PSG trying to build a "superteam" with their outrageous amount of money? Yeah, absolutely. But is that any different from Chelsea's spending under Mourinho when Roman was still a new owner? Or Blackburn's big spending in the 90s? Or City now? Or Real Madrid and Barcelona... at any given point in my lifetime?

Don't get me wrong, if I were a talented player that was being considered by PSG or another CL side, in a bigger league... and let's be real, if PSG's after me that means that probably other clubs that are actually... big clubs... would be after me - I'd probably want to go to the better league and to a "real" big club. And I'm one of those fans that thinks PSG and clubs like it are just rich clubs that are as plastic as they come - so I understand the hate that PSG get. And then you consider it's a European side owned by Arabs, so I imagine a portion of the hate they get comes from the same hate that Middle Easterners generally feel in Europe, which is less understandable hate to me (because not all Arabs are ISIS and it's stupid to think they are)… it's a hate that's real and exists and probably plays a part.

But PSG is a gilded cage where you'll be paid more money than anyone should ever be paid, but chances are you're stuck there until your contract expires. And chances are you'll always struggle in Europe with PSG as you're in the league's top side and nobody else really can compete... so when you actually go up against a world class side you'll probably face elimination. So I think for the very top tier players, it's not an ideal move. But yeah, Cavani did very well there, probably has established himself as a PSG legend (probably the first genuine PSG legend since Pauleta).

I've got a cousin that when his family fled Iran in the late 70s/early 80s they ended up in Paris. He's been a PSG fan for as long as I can remember, and he's got mixed feelings on their ownership because it has introduced this element of gloryhunting that didn't really exist at the club. But at the same time, the club's historically always been a "plastic" club. It's a relatively new club with a very short history, founded by a French TV channel, with the goal of getting Parisians to care more about French football that isn't the national team (i.e., to get more viewers in France watching their league). I think for PSG to be more appealing to top players, the league needs more money and someone needs to be able to consistently put up a fight against PSG, personally. Because if the league was stronger, I'd bet PSG would do a lot better in Europe. Right now their best bet for more competition in France is hoping they've become as hated as Real Madrid/Barca that the rest of the league always gives everything against them... but it looks like in reality teams will just roll over for PSG to have their way with them.

It's not anywhere near the same as a player making a big money move to China, which you generally only see players do when they're either about to retire... or no other club in Europe is interested (and with Bale's wages, that's probably the case here). So they've got a shitload of money and see an opportunity for a player that wants to keep making shitloads of money and come to China maybe a bit earlier than you'd typically expect someone like Bale to be making a move to the MLS or China. And right now that's how I view the Chinese league, it's the new MLS but with more money (and worse football).

And yeah there's the whole living in an authoritarian state situation that comes with a player making that move to China. And I don't think I can underscore this enough as someone who went to China a few months ago (and looks like I'll be going back fairly soon)… the hardest thing will be the culture shock as it's entirely different from living in the West. And if Bale wants to just stick with speaking English, I think he'll have a hell of a tough time in China (because barely anyone fucking speaks it there).

Honestly, I think Bale's a bit hard done by Real Madrid here. Yes, he's had a rough time with injuries and he can't really be relied upon consistently by Real Madrid. But he's a player that's performed for Real Madrid in big matches time and time again, and the utter lack of respect they're giving him (which I think stems from his wages). In the past they've been willing to pay a portion of the player's existing wages for the length of the contract that player has with Real Madrid, covering what the buying club was unable to cover. It doesn't look like they're willing to do that with Bale. And why not? Because he's on crazy money and it's no fault but their own that he's on that money.

If someone told me I'd be making as much as Bale did a week, and then after they decided to pay me that much they decided they didn't want to and would prefer I worked somewhere else that paid much less... I'd respectfully tell my employer to go fuck himself and continue to collect my paychecks each week. If he's not getting anywhere near the amount he'd be making at Madrid, I don't see what incentive he has to not just collect that money each week at Madrid while not paying. It's Madrid's own fault they're giving him an insane amount every week. Even if he doesn't play in 10% of the matches where he'd have the option to cancel his contract to find another club... if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't do that (because only the player has the ability to cancel a contract based off the percentage of matches played).

He's a great player (or he was when he was fit and in form), his impressive performances in CL finals really underscores that, but they're paying him too much. Which essentially forces him to China if he does decide to leave if he wants to keep getting paid anywhere near the same amount. So I don't blame him, it's hard to say "nah I won't take that insane amount of money."

[SirBalon]

43 minutes ago, El Profesor said:

 

Agree. For starters, living in an authoritarian state like China and living in France are very different things. Yes, PSG is a front to strenghten Qatar´s soft-power, but the club is still located in Paris. 

In my opinion, PSG actually can be a pretty good destination. Cavani for example did well to go there, he is revered by PSG fans and built a great career there. 

The Neymar transfer didn´t work out, but in my opinion this is in good part because Neymar is a spoiled unprofessional brat. 

I would say Cavani made his name in Europe with Napoli. They do revere him there.

Going to China as a famous footballer gives you liberties that their population don’t ever experience. But agree... Paris is indeed the attraction with PSG. 

[Dave]

It all seems like a tactic to me by everybody involved to gather one last push of interest in him.

The Chinese window closes next week and nobody at the minute has any interest in paying his wages (especially given the desperation to sell). By drumming up interest from the Chinese clubs it may force the hands of Bayern and PSG now to front up more wages than they would do at any point in August.