Madrid's Zidane winges - Let Bale talk to us

Zinidine Zidane has crawled out from under his rock once again. The man, who had the quality and class to headbutt an opponent in a World Cup Final in front of a worldwide TV audience, said in Los Angeles:

“It is not unusual when a player knows that Real Madrid are interested in them that they get excited. There is nothing more prestigious for a player to wear the white of Real Madrid.

“If he has expressed a desire to join Madrid then Tottenham should give him permission to speak with us. The chance to play for Real Madrid might only come around once in a player's lifetime - and it is understandable that Gareth doesn't want to miss out on it."

No mention of the fact Real Madrid have pursued relentlessly, a player at another club that they are not allowed to do. No mention of the blackmail ultimatum they gave Bale. Just a self righteous if we want a player he should be allowed to talk to us attitude.

What about the fact that according to your own virtual in house paper Marca, you have already agreed a £10m a year 5 year contract with a player you are not allowed to talk to. Isn't that an admission of tapping up?

“This is modern football. You have to pay to get the best players in Europe. Last season Gareth was on the same level as Ronaldo and Messi.

“The best players can have not so great games - but change a game with a moment of brilliance. Those are the sort of players that win you Champions League's and League titles.

“He is already one of the finest player in Europe and he has everything needed to become the best player in the world. It is a bit of a cliche - but it is true you become a better player playing with better players.”

Zidane, who in in America as a part of Real Madrid's pre-season tour, has been a part of a relentless pursuit of our under contract man. They are no longer a club to admire but a club who see themselves above the rules.

The President of the Spanish Football League (LFP), Javier Tebas, was asked if he felt their pursuit of Gareth Bale was immoral. He felt it would increase the TV revenue for their league so welcomed it. He said:

"It is immoral to pay for something when you cannot afford it. I think it's more immoral for a club to spend one million euros which they do not have.

"A 100million euros is a huge amount of money to spend on a player but if Madrid can afford that then it's not a question of morality, but of whether it's a risky move or not."

You can understand his view on Bale joining a league to raise it's profile, but that also raises the question of how much this deal is really worth.

"I don't know much about him, but if Bale is a good player, than I'd rather he was over here (in La Liga) than in the Premier League," he said.

"It's not a question of how much he costs, you have to look at how much money he will generate, and if the LFP has all the stars, it will allow us to maintain high television revenue. All the money the arrival of this type of player generates translates into more revenue."

If commercially to the league he is worth a fortune, he is also worth a fortune to Real Madrid, as they and Barcelona get 50% of their leagues TV revenue, which they refuse to give up.They get 19 times the amount of the lowest earners in the La Liga.

Bale is the biggest commercial name in world football at the moment. When you consider how much money he can bring in and how much we would lose in lost revenue, then you begin to realize that even £80 million doesn't do him justice.




Subscribe to THBN