Possible Gareth Bale Move Has Precedent
Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale has been linked with a move to Chelsea FC several times this season. Executives from Reall Madrid, including Zinedine Zidane, have come out and said that Madrid do not sell world-class players, they simply buy them. However there is quite a precedent for Real selling some of world football’s foremost players just a few years after buying them.
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In 2007, Real Madrid purchased the rights of Dutch winger Arjen Robben from Chelsea FC for £24 million. He was the latest Galactica to join Madrid and was expected to become one of the most important players at the club and he quickly proved himself worthy of those expectations.
He scored a total of 13 goals in two seasons and helped the club win the La Liga title in the 2007-08 season. Just two seasons after arriving at Madrid, Robben was sold off to Byron Munich where he became truly world class to make room for the new galacticos Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. Robben’s career was on the ascendancy and he was one of the best players in the league but still he was sold to make room for another superstar.
Robben’s international team make Wesley Sneijder went through something very similar. Sneijder began his career at Ajax and earned himself a big money move to Real Madrid to the tune of €27 million. Sneijder of course won the La Liga title with Robben in the 07-08 season and scored nine goals in his first season with Real. After teammate Robinho was sold to Manchester City it seemed that the coast was clear for Sneijder to take over as Madrid’s primary attacking midfielder.
However that clearly did not work out as planned as Sneijder was sold to Inter Milan before the start of the 2009 season. He was sold for just €15 million but went on to be a key player in Inter’s and Jose Mourinho’s treble winning side.
Several other world-class players have come and gone at Real Madrid. The aforementioned Robinho, fellow Dutchmen Rafael Van der Vaart and Klass Jan Huntelaar, and many more have donned the white kit of Madrid for just a few seasons before moving on to other clubs.
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Even though Madrid paid a king’s ransom for Gareth Bale that does not make him immune from being sold off. Bale helped Madrid win their much desired tenth Champions League and was key in there Copa Del Rey victory in his first season. He has experienced a tremendous amount of criticism this season despite scoring 17 goals and despite the high number of goals he is clearly not the same player that he was last season.
Madrid and their fans are a fickle bunch who expect immediate and consistent greatness and do not accept injuries as an excuse. Reports suggest that another superstar in Marco Reus could be brought in or Bale could be sold off to make room for Madrid teammate Isco to play on the left flank. While a sale of one of the world’s most expensive players is unlikely at best, there is a precedent of Real selling off some of their best players.
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