Liverpool may be tempted to make a move for Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale after a brilliant end to his loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur, former Spurs striker Darren Bent has told talkSPORT (25 May, 9.40am).
It’s safe to assume an £86 million, four-time Champions League winner didn’t expect a Monday night trip to Wycombe to represent a turning point in his career.
But as Bale flickered into life at Adams Park, opening the scoring during Spurs’ 4-1 FA Cup third-round victory over the Championship strugglers, an otherwise routine win felt like the rebirth of one of European football’s most gifted talents.
Since that fateful winter’s night in Buckinghamshire, Bale has gone from ‘busted flush’ to a man transformed, putting Burnley and Crystal Palace to the sword before a hat-trick against Sheffield United – his first in Tottenham colours.
In the end, Wales’ wing wizard ended his second spell at the London giants with a more than creditable tally of 16 goals.
The 31-year-old was reluctant to give too much away when asked about his future following Sunday’s two-goal, final-day cameo against Leicester City.
But Bent believes Tottenham’s Premier League rivals could do a lot worse than cast an eye over a man who scored one of the greatest goals in Champions League history against Jurgen Klopp’s side in 2018.
“Bale, with the wages he’s on, is going to have to take a massive cut,” the former England international says of a man who earns a staggering £600,000 a week at Real Madrid.
“Man City wouldn’t (sign him), Man United probably wouldn’t. Liverpool? Potentially they may be in for Bale.”
At 31, Bale is far from the typical Liverpool signing.
But if Real Madrid are willing to let one of their highest earners go for free – and that’s a possibility with the La Liga giants desperate to cut a crippling wage bill – the chance to sign one of football’s most talented forwards for nothing may be too good to turn down.
“(Bale) is a really outstanding player,” Jurgen Klopp said in 2019.
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