Would Arsenal fans want Gareth Bale this summer?

Gareth Bale left Tottenham in a big money move to Real Madrid, but seemed to be forever in the shadows of the great Ronaldo. The Spanish crowd have never really warmed to the Welshman and his agent hinted that his client could leave the Bernabeau when he said the fans treatment of Bale was a disgrace.

So now the speculation is of where he could end up if he moved back to the Premier League, and according to Adrian Durham, he is more likely to come to Arsenal than return to Tottenham. Durham said: “He’s won nothing in the English game and I think this summer is the time to get yourself back here,”

“Go to a club that’s going to win something, i.e. not Tottenham Hotspur, and win things in the English game, really drive a club forward.

“Whether it be Liverpool or a Manchester United.

“It would be such a tap in to go to Manchester City and join what they’re doing.

“I don’t necessarily think Pep [Guardiola] would want him, I think he might go with younger players, I might be wrong.

“It would be a bit deceitful really to go to Chelsea if you’re Gareth Bale, think of the Tottenham connection there.

“It’s impossible, surely isn’t it, to go to Arsenal.

“But Arsenal fit the bill, he should be going to a club that he can make a difference, that club that needs to be pushed over the line.

“That’s why I’m talking about a Liverpool, that’s why I’m talking about a Manchester United, it would be an Arsenal.

“But could he go there, really?”

Really? Would it be worse for Bale to go to Chelsea than Arsenal? And would the Arsenal fans even take to an ex-Spud if he joined us in the summer?

What do you think?

Darren N

38 Comments

  1. HELL NO overrated, injury prone and overly expensive, i prefer we get lucas vasquez not a big star but much better for our team

  2. Bale or Iwobi ?
    Never would happen though
    Are owners not going to pay fee or wages it would take

      1. I think it’s obvious that we need a winger or 2 so Ship out iwobi (maybe stoke )promote nelson ,Get Zaha ,Bale no chance …

        1. Iwobi can be a bench player for next season.No need to ship him out for whatever reason.Maybe in the future?Yes, but not next season.

          1. TH14-Emery obviously dosent rate Iwobi as a CAM because I cannot recall him ever being played there.I remember Wenger did.Away to Forest in the FA Cup last season.That didn’t go too well if I remember correctly.

            1. Forest?? Really Phil? You dont remember AW final home game against Burnley? The 5-0 victory where Iwobi ran riot as no10? Ring any bells? His double pre assist for the first and second goals, his left footed thunderbolt into the roof of the net for the fourth goal. I wonder Phil how you can forget about such a monumental fixture. Oh well, it’s true that a younger brain is a sharper mind, good thing I’ll be here to always remind you when you forget.,

                  1. TH14-And I will always be here to report on his usual sub-standard,non-productive performances.And let’s face it There has been plenty of them this season.And we are now talking PRE-ASSISTS are we?Getting desperate AGAIN PAL are you not?

      2. I don’t know why some try to drag Iwobi into issues that don’t concern him.Its being said time and time here again that Iwobi only starts largely due to the fact that we lack a LW in the first team and in the coaches eyes he can do a job there.I don’t like how he’s bashed and criticized even when there’s no need to.The same was done to Gervinho who in truth is a better LW than Iwobi.Its just that fans never had patience with him though I’ve always maintained his dribbling was no doubt world class.He just like Iwobi lacked decisiveness.

          1. I told you I wasn’t an ITK.Everything is online and if you want to find it ahead of time you will rather than waiting for the media.News about Bale,Cengiz Under,Nicolas Pepe,Julian Brandt are all old news.Most of what Ornstein says too has already been said but as the club’s mouthpiece he gains more attention.

              1. Kev-I name YOU for the whole Iwobi argumet.If we had signed Tomas Lemar then Iwobi would indeed be at Stoke City By now (most likely sat on the bench).

                1. I’m glad Arsenal did not sign Lamar because even when he was affordable he was nowhere near good enough to replace Sanchez.To think a bid of above £90m was sanctioned for him even cracks me up.

                2. Yeah Thomas Lamar the great, you’d prefer his 2 goals and 1 assist in 23 apps over Iwobi. Why I’m I not surprised ??

                  1. I would take steve bould on that left wing over iwobi if I’m honest ?
                    But seriously now we need better players than him ,Zaha would be my choice ,but it seems our budget only stretches far enough to buy one of his legs .
                    So steve bould it is

  3. I would take if it his price and salary are reasonable.I would surely take him over Nicolas Pepe.One of Saka and Amaechi or both could prove to be good enough too in the future and Bale would not directly block their path too because he will be getting older and the club will most likely tend to a younger player for that position.I’d be very happy with this move and he has a point to prove so that should spur him on as he changes environment.

  4. Arsenal should be targeting young players with real potential rather than overpriced overpaid guys approaching thirty and beyond.Look what Ajax achieved yesterday against Real Madrid with six players under the age of twenty two.The need for experience is the most over hyped mantra in football.It is usually made by former players, now pundits who cannot believe how many young players are making their way to the top rather more quickly than they did.The market has changed in that players such as Ozil, Sanchez and Bale have become “victims” of their lucrative contracts which no other sides in the World will match.

    1. It did not even need Ajax to beat Madrid with six under 22 players to prove that quality is more important than experience.If you’re young, good enough and better than someone in a team the excuse of inexperience for not playing is just a cliche.It is right to take a gamble on a youngster who has shown so much quality above the older ones.For example look how Arsenal used Wilshere in the 10/11 season.His greatness was only hampered by injury and I maintain that he could’ve been a mainstay not just a player for Barca team.

      1. Granddad, couldn’t agree with you more on the main thrust of your post.

        Who was it said “you can’t win anything with youngsters”, then proceeded to watch Utd overhaul pool as the most successful club in english history?

        Tht’s right, another ex-player who became a pundit!!

        I would hesitate regarding your examples of Ozil etc…after all, city aren’t doing that badly, buying their history on the back of oil rich money are they?

        1. Grandad, I agree 100%. Arsenal need to blend young hungry good value players with experienced players already at the club. The potential in our U23’s and the lower leagues in the UK, Europe and South America should not be neglected.

      2. KEV, “greatness” has to be earned by a long and successful career. It was and is premature and now too late for Jack to have even been called, accurately, any more than a one time talented but unreliable player. Bergkamp was great. So was Henry. To try putting poor injured and unreliable Jack remotely in THAT company is the equivalent of thinking Marxist economics, as proposed by Corbyn and Co, would make us all richer; ie, an utter falsehood!

    2. I would caution people against using one example to prove a great deal of many things overall. One match is not something a person should ever lay their mantra on. I often see people doing it, how one bad performance can prove all of their beliefs about a player, or one game with one big moment can erase the form from the previous set of fixtures and you get an in your face type of attitude. Ajax have won nothing yet. Ajax has got a history of winning stuff while bringing through talented young players who go on to become a bit special. All fans of a certain age will know about Ajax and its academy players, the entire club is built around its youth team. They are only one example of it though, Portuguese, French, and others have this formula too, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen anyone truly succeed with it. At the same time we have seen many teams beat the odds in a David vs Goliath. How many teams are gonna hope to get Ajax in the next round.

  5. Though a total fantasy and so not remotely on the cards, a fit Bale woiuld vastly improve us. But he is NOT regularly fit and now into his thirties and on huge wages. It won’t be happening so why don’t those who are realists among us, MOVE ON to a sensible thread, instead of indulging ourselves by discussing sheer fantasy. So then a nice try Darren N, but I prefer reality to fantasy topics.

    1. Jon, must come back to you on a previous article where you assumed I said that ex-players automatically support the club they played for. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was me who told you that Alan Smith was a Judas character with his constant negative reports concerning our club. Your reply to me was of the opposite telling us that he was a loyal member of our club or words to that extent. I was also the first person on these pages criticising Paul Merson for his negative reports. As you said Charlie George was the perfect example of a guy who was a supporter first and became a player after. Like myself Charlie was an original North Bank boy whom I shared many a railway carriage with on the old football specials in the mid 60’s. This brings me on the latest ex-player coming out with negative headlines. I now hear that David Seamen has come out with a quote that’s upset Arsenal fans from every corner of the planet with, “If they play a foreign side I hope Tottenham win the Champions League”. David seamen is a Yorkshireman, a great servant to the club and an even better Keeper but never an Arsenal supporter. I once saw an interview with Seamen where he described himself as number one at school and this wasn’t regarding his position in the football team, moreso the biggest and toughest in the playground. Big deal. To me he’s just an example of 99% of footballers that just support the team when he’s being paid for it and have no affiliation for the club whatsoever

      1. Kenny Rolfe, don’t know if you use google, but there is a currently running article praising the referees in our country.
        I’d love to know your thoughts on it, as it basically says how lucky we are to have such a wonderful group and how difficult it is to criticise their record of making correct decisions.

        1. ken1945, this google article must be either sponsored by Riley and the Referees Association or is a prank! When the last World Cup in Russia didn’t deem any English Referees competent enough to officiate that says enough.
          There is not a week goes by without discussion of referee and second official’s decisions impacting on games in the EPL and not just Arsenal.

          1. Ken, I never saw the article you’re talking about however I think OG summed it up pretty well. Although OG says sponsored by Mike Riley I think probably in conjunction with Sky Sports, with the pair of them slapping each other on the back saying how good they are. To OG and Ken, What’s going to be interesting next year is our referees trying to officiate games with VAR available. You can see the problems the European officials are having with late decisions, can’t wait for refs like Moss, Dean, Taylor in action. Could be hilarious.

            1. Yes Kenny, looking forward to the big laugh ???. Sky will probably want to run ads in the review time.

      2. Hi Kenny, Yes, I remember that post of yours and my reply. It seemed to methen that what you were saying was what you now say is not true. Of course I accept your word on that and am pleased to hear it too, esp from a long time fan as we oldies are. On Smithy I said “his first love is to his(TV) career” not Arsenal (paraphrasing slightly). I said that Merson is a Chelsea fan, which is widely known but that Keown, Nicholas and George are true GOONERS. ON SEAMAN THERE HAS BEEN SOME MISCHIEVOUS MISINFORMATION PUT OUT. I personally heard him on Talk Sport just yesterday answer(the question put to him) that he hoped any English team won the CL final, even Spurs, if playing foreign teams. That to my fair mind is a perfectly legitimate and patriotic view to hold and shared by many, esp older fans throughout Britain , not merely Gooners. I do not share his view where any of our direct our rivals are concerned, EXCEPT Liverpool, who I have always admired as a properly run club with passionate fans; no oil money, filthy oligarchs etc or couldn’t care less absentee Yanks. That is my view, even though I do not and never have supported Pool. Being the sort of man I am, I find much of this what I call “petty mindedness” with rival clubs to be anti- sportsman like. And this, even though it applies to me too! I will always try to be honest with my thoughts and with my faults and admit to thinking as I do , even though it “incriminates” me too. That is what honest people do. Those who simply cannot face up to their own faults, on the other hand, rarely do so , IMO. I disagree that Seaman is that type you claim him to be; he was merely answering a question honestly and the follow up “row it caused” up was the mischief I refer too. No one has the right to think he should automatically want Spurs to lose, just because he was our player. It puzzles some but not me Some people have a way of twisting perceptions to suit their own predudices. You will always get from me the truth as I perceive it and nothing but that truth Kenny.

        1. Jon, I’ve got no problem with David Seaman, as I said in my post, a great Keeper and a great servant to our club but he will never be a fan like you and me. As a keeper for Arsenal he should know that however patriotic he may be he can’t ever say he want’s Tottenham to win the Champions League, any other team I suppose I can just about accept it but not Tottenham, that’s just how it is and I’m sure you agree with that. If he doesn’t understand that then I don’t know where his head is, he certainly knows about the rivalry. Then again Jon, he wasn’t at the early season derby after they won the double when little Terry Dyson got the winning goal and a hat trick in a 4-3 win in 1961 like we were or Arsenal’s famous 2-1 win at highbury the same season like we were. On Smudger, you now say he’s first love is to TV (Sky Sports I assume) but at the time you took offence to me calling him Judas. This was quite a while ago and I always said while he’s bashing Arsenal he’ll keep his job at Sky as is also the case with Merson. Anyway I think we’re both pretty much in agreement that these ex-players 99% of the time are not fans of the club they played for. This was only my point I was trying to make in the first place. Anyway Jon what do you think of Unai now? I think he’s beginning to make a difference. We always said he’ll need time. I’m noticing changes for the better. I think we still need a few players to become title challengers but we’re moving in the right direction.

  6. Even if Emery n his coaches manages to get Bale back to his Spurs best. Even if he doesnt get injured again. Even if he was 5years younger at 25.
    He earns about 500 Gs weekly…. we are still trying to let go of Ozil that earns 350k for occassional brilliance.
    Its a NO NO NO!

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