Transfer News: Manchester United did bid for Gareth Bale!

Finally the truth is out – Manchester United did bid for Gareth Bale, as revealed by Fiorentino Perez. How much was the bid remained a secret to the football fans and David Moyes was adamant to this. Over the summer the two marquee signings United should be more likely to bid more, as indicated by www.manutd-newera.blogspot.com were Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. How ironic is that both are playing in the same team now - at Real Madrid!. How United supporters would wish for this, and what actually went wrong – why do we failed?Gareth Bale as claimed by Fiorentino Perez – was realizing a childhood dream to play for Real Madrid. If this is true, no amount of bids nor salary would turn Bale to Old Trafford. On one hand Manchester United had Bale’s childhood’s hero and compatriot Ryan Giggs at United and no doubt urging him to be a Red Devil. On the other hand, it is the dream – a childhood dream – to play for Real Madrid. In the end, Bale took a leaf from Robin Van Persie’s decision making – follow the ‘boy inside me’. But to say United was destined to failed in their bid for Bale was not entirely true. Real on their side did more than United – by declaring their interest in Bale’s services – loud and publicly as well as unethically at some point. And it did enough to turn Bale’s head. United’s fans may wonder if United did this early on that maybe there is a chance Bale’s head could turn to Old Trafford instead.

Cristiano Ronaldo on the other hand maybe just money-oriented and one could not blame him entirely. Footballers career are short and when one is good or that good, one would take full advantage of it and that is what Ronaldo is doing. For one, Ronaldo wanted a pay package that would define his personality on and off the pitch. On the pitch Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the very best in the modern era with only Lionel Messi outdoing him. Off the pitch Ronaldo is miles ahead in terms of commercial attractiveness compared to any other footballers – Messi inclusive. The chances of a Ronaldo return to Old Trafford were there, after all it is the club in his heart – a club that nurtured him from a skinny winger full of tricks to a world class player. Which other club would Ronaldo turns to in terms of history and prestige – certainly not those ‘sugar daddy clubs’. Barcelona and Bayern Munich were the other sensible choices but Bayern was not the club likely to engage in breaking records in terms of paying player’s wages or transfer fees. Barcelona has Messi and that is enough said. So returning to Old Trafford is always an obvious choice for Ronaldo if United can match what he wants in pay package but it never materialized. In the end Real Madrid did the sensible ‘business decision’ by giving Ronaldo what he wants – and United miss out on his signature.

 

United’s fans may also wonder if the club actually had the necessary funds to acquire Ronaldo if Gareth Bale was in their frame too. It is unlike United and their traditions to break their bank for a player (or two) no matter how desirable he can be. Unlike Real, United’s debts are corporate debt – one that needs repayment on schedule. And unlike Real, the Glaziers had actually put United in mountains of debts with their takeover. Real on the other hand is actually debt-ridden too but the difference here is that at Real it is the tax payers money, and as long as Real remains ‘prestige’ in football world, the debt remained a secondary issue – after all the fans are happy. To remain ‘prestige’ Fiorentino Perez adopted the ‘Galacticos’ policy – signing players with megastar status and paying them excessive wages. It was also revealed that Real had actually ‘throw’ everything they can to try to secure the services of Neymar – another player that could end up achieving the Ronaldo-Messi status. It is the failure to lure Neymar’s signature that prompted the full-on pursuit of Bale.

 

Would Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo actually last for more than 2 seasons together? It would all depend on the non-controllable factor – their egos. The first season will always be hard to judge – new teammates, new manager, new surrounding, new style of play, new culture, massive expectations and injuries to either one of them. It will be the season after this when fans will see just how Bale-Ronaldo (as well as Messi-Neymar) can co-exist harmoniously in the same team. The yardsticks to Bale-Ronaldo ability to perform would always ultimately measure by one thing – trophy (or trophies).

 

Gareth Bale for one was seen as the down to earth superstar, humble and family-oriented. If Bale was to be an ordinary Joe and not a football player he would blend into any background – just like that. But it is early days yet and as with any human-related factors – things can and will change. At Tottenham Hotspurs Bale was a superstar – in a team fighting for Champions League spot – a spot in qualifying stages and definitely not for the titles. At Real Madrid, anything other than being European Champion would be deemed as successful. Such is the difference in expectation and this factor could ultimately change Bale – as a person. He may decide that personally he is as good if not better than Cristiano Ronaldo. And if Bale does manage to outperform Ronaldo consistently, he (Bale) will feels that he needs the kind of adoration and respect from the club which was currently centre around Ronaldo and Ronaldo only. And this is where the difficulty starts – because there is no way Ronaldo can accept ‘not being loved’ or not being the No 1.

 

Manchester United did have a ‘sniff’ at signing Cristiano Ronaldo too. The discussions with their sponsors indicated that a deal was in the making. In the end it failed too as financial reason was again cited. United failed in these two marquee signing bids because they were too indecisive – in whether to spend big – bigger than anyone has ever done. The financial fairplay regulation was a consideration but in the end United’s hierarchy decided to go for a less expensive but sensible transition from the Sir Alex Ferguson-David Gill era to David Moyes-Ed Woodward era.

 

Manchester United fans may also wonder if Sir Alex Ferguson would decided against retirement if he knows that United’s board will actually sanction Gareth Bale-Cristiano Ronaldo transfers in one summer. Ferguson would be the obvious choice to manage these two megastars as compared to David Moyes. In the end the smart answer is no – this isn’t United or Glaziers’ style, not even if it is for the purpose of transition into the new era.