While three-quarters of British football fans think Gareth Bale will actually leave Spurs for Real Madrid, only half think he should do it
Much of the transfer talk this week has been dominated by Gareth Bale, linked with a move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid, who are reported to have made world record bid of over £85m for the Welsh star. New YouGov research reveals that half (50%) of British football fans think Bale should leave for Madrid, while 29% think he should stay at White Hart Lane.
Despite Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, insisting that the Wales international is not for sale, a greater majority (74%) of fans believe Bale will move to Real Madrid, with only one in ten (10%) thinking he will stay. Of those fans that say Bale will go, a plurality (37%) think the transfer fee for the footballing ace will be £80-90m, with a further 18% saying it will be £90-100m.
With a median price tag of £85m, those who reckon Bale will leave Tottenham are of the belief that this will be for a world record transfer fee (the current record is £80m, when Real Madrid bought Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009).
Football fans were also asked where they would rank Bale out of all footballers currently playing. More than three-fifths (61%) would place him at least tenth, with 29% saying they would place him in the top 10 and 21% in the top 5. One in ten (10%) rank him in the top 3, but only 1% say he is the best player in the world.
English football: losing its soul?
Earlier this week Gordon Taylor, the Professional Footballer’s Association chairman, stated that ‘English football is “in danger of losing its soul” because of selfish players, avaricious owners and managers obsessed with the short term’. Over two-thirds (68%) of football fans agreed with the statement that “English football is in danger of losing its soul”, while only 14% disagreed.
And with Gareth Bale reportedly pushing for a move to leave England for Spain’s La Liga, 38% of fans believe this will be bad for the Premier League, with only 12% who think it will be good. More remain indifferent though, with 46% saying that the move would be neither good nor bad for the Premier League.
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