Gareth Bale

[RockyRocastle]

We are interested but i've heard that he's almost certainly off to United.

Ive heard the same.

Strange one this. Clichy has been excellent for us, but the only thing he has over Bale is pace. Bale has unlimited potential imo, it has been a while since a players has stood out to me like he has when ive seen him.

It would be very harsh to drop Clichy, but at the same time an injury to him and our whole defence will have to be changed around, and with the African waste of time this year we do need another left back.

But if we have 10 mill it should be put towards a goal scoring winger, which should be by far and away our number 1 priority.

 

[Alfonso]

and with the African waste of time this year we do need another left back.

But none of the defenders going to the African Cup(Eboue and Toure) can play left back. The African Cup of Nations has no relation to our left back position.

 

[Tony Montana]

What is the African waste of time? The African Nations Cup?
Why is that such a waste of time? :?

On Bale. How much do people think he's actually worth? People go on about English players costing more simply because they're English (which is true) but with Bale should he cost millions?

 

[Tony Montana]

We are interested but i've heard that he's almost certainly off to United.

Thats too bad , would have thought he would have preferred us.

Why?

 

[celestis]

We are interested but i've heard that he's almost certainly off to United.

Thats too bad , would have thought he would have preferred us.

Why?

Because he supports us and Theo is one of his best mates.

 

[M+D]

Yea but can you really justify spending £10m+ on what you regard as a back up? Clichy could stay fit for all of next season, leaving Balewith whatm the odd CC appearance?

Spending that much money on a peripheral player is crazy. Especially when we need money spent elsewhere. And especially when Gallas or Hoyte could both play at LB. Not to mention you can bet that Wenger has a lot of faith in Traore.

He is a luxury purchase at the minute, and when there are neccessities which need to be brought first, i just cant see the justification for Bale as a LB.

If you had regarded Bale as a LW, i would have answered differently as its a completely differnt situation.

Couldn't disagree more to be honest. We have little competition in both defence and midfield and this causes major problems all over the pitch. The drop off in quality in all eight positions of those areas is huge and left-back is especially a problem area; equally as much as any wide midfield areas.

Gallas is a non-starter; you don't weaken somewhere else because you haven't prepared your squad properly. Hoyte is useless at left back and Traore is simply not ready for regular premiership football; nowhere near.

I can guarantee that if a major prospect like Bale becomes available, Wenger will look to sign him and he won't be put off by a £10M price tag (especially when the likely amount is to be half of that upfront).

My personal areas of concern before the window started were: Goalkeeper, Left back, Wide midfielder. While wide midfielder may be a priority, I don't believe the others should be neglected.

Agree with this whole-heartedly. Bale is expensive, yes, but he is undoubtedly a great talent and could definitely be a very good back-up for left wing or left back. All we'd need then is a winger who can play either side ideally and I'd be pretty confident going into the next season. Possibly a versatile striker replacing Baptista/Reyes would be a good move as well.
Edit: Obviously eventually he'd become first choice at either left back although most probably imo, left wing, but until then he would be a great understudy for both positions. And he is a Arsenal fan himself, which is always a good thing to have at the club, as it should mean increased loyalty , like Justin Hoyte for example.

 

[Alfonso]

You dont spent £10-£12m on a reserve left back.

Clichy has arguably been our best player since the turn of the year, and i think he has validated his position in the first 11. Bale would only be a squad player, and for £12m it is not worth it.

We need to spend our big money on big players who are proven and are going to make a difference, not on glorified youth players like Bale.

 

[RockyRocastle]

and with the African waste of time this year we do need another left back.

But none of the defenders going to the African Cup(Eboue and Toure) can play left back. The African Cup of Nations has no relation to our left back position.

Well you could argue that it does. Gallas would probably be favourite to play left back in we could field a CB partnership of Toure and one of Phil/Djourou. Not having Toure may make Wenger think twice about moving Gallas from the centre.

 

[RockyRocastle]

What is the African waste of time? The African Nations Cup?
Why is that such a waste of time? :?

On Bale. How much do people think he's actually worth? People go on about English players costing more simply because they're English (which is true) but with Bale should he cost millions?

Well perhaps it isnt a waste of time, but I think it is a joke that we will be without 3 important players in the middle of the season for so long.

 

[Captain]

You dont spent £10-£12m on a reserve left back.

Clichy has arguably been our best player since the turn of the year, and i think he has validated his position in the first 11. Bale would only be a squad player, and for £12m it is not worth it.

We need to spend our big money on big players who are proven and are going to make a difference, not on glorified youth players like Bale.

He's not a glorified young player. He is already a very good player, irrespective of his age.

 

[dos1986]

Bale is all hype imo,take away his goals from free kicks and he is very average for that price,he has struggled at international level imo,he was dreadful against Ireland and besides his goal from a free kick he was also poor against Slovakia.I dont think he has the athletisicm to be a great winger or interest Arsène

 

[M+D]

On Bale. How much do people think he's actually worth? People go on about English players costing more simply because they're English (which is true) but with Bale should he cost millions?

Bale's true worth is probably around £3-5m, as a stand-out player in the Championship. But because of his age and because he is British and hyped, we'd be lucky to get away with £10m for him tbh. He's not worth this, but you are buying into his potential worth as well, something that isn't guaranteed but is taken into account regardless.
Given these factors, I would actually probably pay around £5m for him personally, possibly with add ons like Theo's deal was.

 

[tactica442]

I rate the price on Bale in th region between 6m-8m, may up to 12m depending on his performance. Bale is a Welsh international and has a very wicked left foot.

 

[henry79]

in january Arsène said that it was good that he stayed at southampton so we have a chance of bying him in the summer.

 

[longrufus]

Yea but can you really justify spending £10m+ on what you regard as a back up? Clichy could stay fit for all of next season, leaving Balewith whatm the odd CC appearance?

Spending that much money on a peripheral player is crazy. Especially when we need money spent elsewhere. And especially when Gallas or Hoyte could both play at LB. Not to mention you can bet that Wenger has a lot of faith in Traore.

He is a luxury purchase at the minute, and when there are neccessities which need to be brought first, i just cant see the justification for Bale as a LB.

If you had regarded Bale as a LW, i would have answered differently as its a completely differnt situation.

Couldn't disagree more to be honest. We have little competition in both defence and midfield and this causes major problems all over the pitch. The drop off in quality in all eight positions of those areas is huge and left-back is especially a problem area; equally as much as any wide midfield areas.

Gallas is a non-starter; you don't weaken somewhere else because you haven't prepared your squad properly. Hoyte is useless at left back and Traore is simply not ready for regular premiership football; nowhere near.

I can guarantee that if a major prospect like Bale becomes available, Wenger will look to sign him and he won't be put off by a £10M price tag (especially when the likely amount is to be half of that upfront).

My personal areas of concern before the window started were: Goalkeeper, Left back, Wide midfielder. While wide midfielder may be a priority, I don't believe the others should be neglected.

Agree with this whole-heartedly. Bale is expensive, yes, but he is undoubtedly a great talent and could definitely be a very good back-up for left wing or left back. All we'd need then is a winger who can play either side ideally and I'd be pretty confident going into the next season. Possibly a versatile striker replacing Baptista/Reyes would be a good move as well.
Edit: Obviously eventually he'd become first choice at either left back although most probably imo, left wing, but until then he would be a great understudy for both positions. And he is a Arsenal fan himself, which is always a good thing to have at the club, as it should mean increased loyalty , like Justin Hoyte for example.

Firslty Bale will cost easily upwards of £10m. Sp**s had an offer of £10m rejected in January and that offer is till on the table. With United also involved i imagine he will go for closer to £12m.

Captain, i think your just suiting the situation to your argument to be honest. First of all your talk of Bale as a LB, now you talk of him as a LM. You say LB is a problem area, how come you dont mention RB? Is Hoyte useless at LB but more than adequete cover at RB?

I can guarantee that Wenger will be interested when any great young prosepct becomes available. However does this mean he will purchase every young rising star in world football? I doubt it. Bale as I said before is a luxury buy.

At £10m upwards he does not address the problems the squad has. Clichy is the better LB, overall and defensivly, bringing Bale in would weaken the defence. Bale is not good enough either to address our problems from wide areas. We need wide players capable of scoring, Bale isnt really a goal threat (bar his freekicks, which will all but disappear, RvP is the superior free kick specialist). The thing we need in the team is a better balance as Wenger has put it. Adding inexpeirence in the areas we need improved most is the opposite of what we need to do.

Merida+Denilson im not sure why you are so quick to say Bale will replace Clichy, or why you would want him to. Clichy has been immense this season, his performance have meant we havnt even missed our old friend Cashley, one of the best LB's in world football. If it aint broke, then dont fix it, and Clichy has been one of the stand out performers in our team.

Its not that i dont rate Bale, or think he would add to the squad, of course he would. But when we have a limited budget I think we should look at the areas we need to improve, which is wide midfield. As said before we could pick up both Tuncay (free) and Malouda for around £6m. Which for me are worth far more to the team than Bale.

 

[Captain]

I didn't talk of Bale at LM anywhere in my post and not once on the entire board.

And yes, Hoyte is useless at left back and adequate at right back. Something you'll find is prevalent in most full backs in world football.

As to what Wenger will do; as he said himself, he was glad bale didn't move because it meant he had a chance to sign him. A new left back is far from a luxury; very far.

I will be very suprised if he moves for £10M or more.

 

[M+D]

Merida+Denilson im not sure why you are so quick to say Bale will replace Clichy, or why you would want him to. Clichy has been immense this season, his performance have meant we havnt even missed our old friend Cashley, one of the best LB's in world football. If it aint broke, then dont fix it, and Clichy has been one of the stand out performers in our team.

Its not that i dont rate Bale, or think he would add to the squad, of course he would. But when we have a limited budget I think we should look at the areas we need to improve, which is wide midfield. As said before we could pick up both Tuncay (free) and Malouda for around £6m. Which for me are worth far more to the team than Bale.

Like I said, I believe that in time Gareth Bale will become a star player, for whoever he signs for, and therefore has a very good chance of replacing either Clichy at left back, or whoever plays on left wing (Rosicky atm). But I mean in time, not right at this minute, which is why the price is too large. And I also said that it is more probable that he would eventually play at left wing, rather than replace Clichy. This is because he is not much of a defender tbh, obviously far worse than Clichy atm, and also that Clichy is only 21/22 himself and so Bale would have to improve on a traditional left-backs attributes significantly to challenge, as Clichy is also going to keep improving. And I think Clichy can be the World's best left back in time, with a better end-product attacking-wise. And another point to consider about the left back slot is Armand Traore, although he is a bit worryingly prone to injuries imo, he has the physique and talent to be able to mature into a great left back as well, and with Rene Steer (who I rate almost as highly as Traore) as well, it seems the left back positions are held by too young players to necessitate another 17 year old, as everyone challenging for a left back slot is going to keep improving year on year for another 10 years!
Btw, I also think that having re-read my post, I may have gone a bit over the top as I am a big fan of Bale, and haven't really thought it through properly in terms of where he could realistically fill in. ops: But if he could become a left winger, which I believe he could quite easily given his attributes, in a few years I still think he would be challenging for a left wing slot easily. His left boot is absolutely amazing, so his deliveries could be exactly what we need.
It all depends on what sort of budget we have. Rumours are that Tottenham will get him anyway....

 

[Glovegun]

At the minute the left-back slot is fairly strong. Clichy is a superb player IMO, and could have been in the PFA team of the year (or not far off anyway). Traore looks a very good back-up for the time being, but has very little experience.

The left-hand side of midfield is a problem however. If Rosicky is 1st choice, then atm Freddie is probably his back-up, and Freddie is no longer up to it. Personally Id ship out Hleb and bring in Ribery to fight it out with Theo on the right-hand side, and move on Freddie as well. Bale would be good replacement (maybe Malouda?). He's a talented kid but I think we get the added versatility of having 3 naturally left-sided players (Clichy, Traore and Bale) who can play both defence and midfield - you get that movement and fluidity which would be good. At the moment Clichy's end product in the final third isnt fantastic, but Bale is a good crosser of the ball. I could see those two forming a very good partnership.

 

[Glovegun]

Merida+Denilson im not sure why you are so quick to say Bale will replace Clichy, or why you would want him to. Clichy has been immense this season, his performance have meant we havnt even missed our old friend Cashley, one of the best LB's in world football. If it aint broke, then dont fix it, and Clichy has been one of the stand out performers in our team.

Its not that i dont rate Bale, or think he would add to the squad, of course he would. But when we have a limited budget I think we should look at the areas we need to improve, which is wide midfield. As said before we could pick up both Tuncay (free) and Malouda for around £6m. Which for me are worth far more to the team than Bale.

Like I said, I believe that in time Gareth Bale will become a star player, for whoever he signs for, and therefore has a very good chance of replacing either Clichy at left back, or whoever plays on left wing (Rosicky atm). But I mean in time, not right at this minute, which is why the price is too large. And I also said that it is more probable that he would eventually play at left wing, rather than replace Clichy. This is because he is not much of a defender tbh, obviously far worse than Clichy atm, and also that Clichy is only 21/22 himself and so Bale would have to improve on a traditional left-backs attributes significantly to challenge, as Clichy is also going to keep improving. And I think Clichy can be the World's best left back in time, with a better end-product attacking-wise. And another point to consider about the left back slot is Armand Traore, although he is a bit worryingly prone to injuries imo, he has the physique and talent to be able to mature into a great left back as well, and with Rene Steer (who I rate almost as highly as Traore) as well, it seems the left back positions are held by too young players to necessitate another 17 year old, as everyone challenging for a left back slot is going to keep improving year on year for another 10 years!
Btw, I also think that having re-read my post, I may have gone a bit over the top as I am a big fan of Bale, and haven't really thought it through properly in terms of where he could realistically fill in. ops: But if he could become a left winger, which I believe he could quite easily given his attributes, in a few years I still think he would be challenging for a left wing slot easily. His left boot is absolutely amazing, so his deliveries could be exactly what we need.
It all depends on what sort of budget we have. Rumours are that Tottenham will get him anyway....

Good point about Rene Steer. Ive seen him for the reserves and youth a few times this season and I really dont think theres that much between him and Traore. The guy is absolutely lightning. A lot of people rave about people like Merida in the youth team but some of the defence really look top-notch - Gavin Hoyte, Steer and Ogogo.

 

[The Man Who]

Daily Mirror ;

WELSH star Gareth Bale will be sold by Southampton on the cheap to either Manchester United, Tottenham or Arsenal to ease their £1million-a-month losses.

Saints expect to face a big financial setback after failing to return to the top flight.

The Premiership parachute payments, worth £6million a year for two years since relegation, end this summer.