I don’t take too much notice of Tony Cascarino, as I don’t generally find his views particularly insightful. Sometimes he says things I agree with, but if he says enough then that is almost certain to happen. Last week he pointed out in The Times that QPR may have bought a lot of players with Champions League experience, but that doesn’t mean they’re any good – they’re the ones the CL clubs didn’t want! Good point, and an observation that makes him at least one IQ point smarter than ‘Arry.
He also said Mancini has lost the dressing room (whatever) and the FA will be watching Yohan Cabaye carefully after a couple of bad tackles (doubt it – don’t think they pay that much attention).
But the point that got me thinking was this: “Gareth Bale is the best player in Britain. None of his Premier League peers would fetch anywhere near £50 million. The Welshman would.”
Hmm. Gareth Bale would fetch £50m? No one else would fetch £50m?
£50m is a lot of money. Only Fernando Torres and Cristiano Ronaldo have ever been bought or sold by British clubs for that amount or more. Let’s refer to the (supposed) experts at transfermarkt.com. They reckon that the most valuable players in the PL at present are these:
Just kidding about Gervinho! They actually reckon he’s worth £10.5m, which is almost as laughable, but they’re not the only ones fooled at that price.
So the ‘experts’ reckon Wayne Rooney is far and away the most valuable player in the Premier League. Who exactly is going to pay that sort of money for Rooney? I just don’t see it. For one thing he’d never leave England, so that narrows the buyers down to Man City and, er, well just Man City. They also haven’t changed their valuation of Van Persie, despite him being nearly a year older than he was last time I looked at this, and being sold for £24m in the meantime. So can we trust anything they say? Some of the other players they list in the top ten are also getting on a bit, but transfermarkt don’t seem to have noticed that value somewhat decreases with age.
Arsenal’s most valuable player is of course Jack Wilshere, who is valued at £28m. As are Torres and Fellaini, but I doubt either of them would fetch that much, while I’d expect Jack to go for no less than £30m given his potential. Mind you I haven’t factored in Arsenal’s terrible negotiating, so perhaps £10m is nearer the mark.
But back to the saviour of N17. Like Jack, he’s still young, has a decade in front of him at top level and the potential to get better. Unlike Rooney, the thought of living in a foreign country wouldn’t fill him with terror, so Madrid or PSG would be possibilities, Bayern too if they wanted to break their transfer record. I can’t see Barca wanting him. Realistically he’s not going to go to a country outside western Europe for several years, and the Italians can’t afford him so that looks like all the options.
Pricewise, I think it probably would be close to the transfermarkt valuation in this case. I’m not saying he’s necessarily better than Wilshere, but price depends on reputation and being flavour of the month as much as hard facts.
I don’t really see it would be possible for the four City and Utd players listed above Bale by transfermarkt to be sold for more than him, so I must reluctantly agree with Cascarino that Bale probably is the Premier League’s current most valuable player. That doesn’t mean he’s the best though, and I don’t think he’d fetch £50m either.
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angryofislington 
Bale may be worth £30m-35m. But he’s only performed well for half a season and has won nothing in the game. And his stats – compared to Walcott for instance – dont add up to the hype. Walcott has more goals and more assists and played less games/minutes. Of course Bale is a better player than Walcott which is why his stats are actually not as good as they should be. Is Bale better than RVP? No. Better than Rooney? No. Better than Wilshere? Hell No. He’s a one trick pony who has one of the worst shots-to-goals ratios. He basically shoots all the time and 99% of his shots miss the target by a mile.
Don’t believe the hype.
He’ll end up somewhere like Real Madrid, fail hopelessly, and re-join spurs for a reduced fee. A win-win for Levy.
99% of his shots miss the target by a mile?! You must have been watching Christian Bale playing football. You need to take a trip into town mate and visit a shop there; it’s called VisionExpress. While you’re there, pop into the shop next door, it’s called Ridiculously Biased and Insanely Jealous, it sounds like just the place for you.
for a gooner, that was a well reasoned argument. he may be overrated but he is our overrated player(with 3 yrs left on his contract. ssn and red tops please note) and we love him. The one one thing you did not factor in was Levy
Good read! And informative. I agree with you about Cascarino.
You forgot one thing here Jack has been out longer then Huddlestone and he is not yet right if he ever gets back to 100 percent he would be worth over 50 million.. I no a long term injury can keep causing follow up injury’s like the one he nad recently when he sat in bad pain rolling his hands to come of any decent knock he is in pain. Now comparing Bale and Jack would be like comparing Sugaur ray Lennon and Mohamed Ali both different animals. Your Jack dictates play and creates Bale wins game with pace power and spectacular shots or crosses can play left center right and like Glen Hodddle play in goal. If either team had both players i would back them to win the league right now. So enjoy Jack because i will enjoy watching Bale no matter how much reward is put on his head i still think he will stay till hes 25 and if we don’t matched is ambitions move on just like Jack will.
Who are Sugaur Ray Lennon and Mohamed Ali? Players who washed out with Spurs? As Muhammad Ali would say, “What’s my name, fool?” (He’d also call Bale “ugly,” and he’d be right.)
There could well come a day when Wilshere for Arsenal, and Bale for a club outside of North London, play against each other in the Champions League Final. Tottenham fans better hope they’ve paid their cable bill, because that’s the only way they’ll ever see Champions League football again.
Take a look at your own players before slating Bale’s looks, start with Chamberlain and then go to the next.
From the bile you have stated I suggest you take an inward look of yourself, you seem to be quite stilted and nasty.
can’t believe u agree with the irish mobster from sicily that the “monkey king” is the most valuable player in the premier league. if barca & real madrid knew they could get wilshire to go to their clubs or have the “monkey king” they would break the bank to get wilshire. monkey king is too one dimensional, and he can only do his stuff against minor clubs. but when he plays against big teams, 9 times out of 10 he goes missing. admittidly, he makes some good runs here and there, and scores a couple of free kicks, but that’s it, and this is something the big clubs recognise. but wilshire on the other hand is up for every game, running the middle of the park, getting back in defense to defend and setting up attacks to boot. so who would you really say now, having the option of one of the 2 of them would them spanish teams rather have…and it would be wilshire every time as he’s the more complete footballer. they just know that wilshire is as committed to arsenal as cesc was to barca and that he’d never leave anyway. so there you have it….monkey king, what a laugh. lol
Real or Barca would break the bank for Wilshere? Has there been some kind of air disaster and everyone on both teams has been horribly killed? He seems to get a lot of credit for running around a lot and losing possession.
Barca are already tapping Wilshere up. I should have expected someone from the town that thought the Mariners were going to beat the Yankees in 2001 to say something so dumb. The only time you’ve ever seen a decent footballer in person was when Freddie Ljungberg was playing for the Sounders.
Ljungberg was absolute toilet and there were cheers when we saw the back of him. Tell you what; I’ll bet all the money in my pockets against all the money in your pockets that Barca goes nowhere near Jacky Cokehead.
What an infantile,crass comment. Racist and gutter level e.g.”the irish mobster from sicily that the “monkey king” ” shows what a cretin this poster is. Obviously difficult words like irony are beyond his wit. Well two syllables are obviously a challenge let alone three. Being unable to use capital letters and items such as “them spanish” show a complete moronic level of grasp of grown up English nanguage. Thanks fo commenting in your pathetic biased manner as the light releif is appreciated. Now off you go and look in the mirror as you are obviously so good looking. zico59 is proof of the saying scum floats to the surface.
He can;t score against the big teams? Has Wiltedshire scored against, Inter, Man Utd., Man City, Chelsea, I won’t mention Arsenal cos you said he only does his stuff against smaller clubs. All his goals against the real big teams come at extremely important moments in the game. I’d rather have a tricky monkey, than a stinker of a skunk. Check your defence out, but run when they lift their tails.
As Dav said Wiltshere and Bale are different players Bale is more like a Really good Rosicky Wilshere is more like a Scholes who can tackle why compare these players because they are the best that both teams offer your biased Gooner view fails you in this article why are you even bothered about what Bale is doing…Arsenal are great concentrate on their future..meanwhile COYS!!!
This valuation lark is misleading. It assumes a party who wants to sell at the open market price. This isn’t the case here so Spurs relikely to demand a hassle premium taking the actualvalue above 42m. It’s a bit like selling your house, if someone wanted to buy it but you were happy ther you may eventually sell but not for the open market price. Of course this example is mnot perfect as your house has no say whereas Bale does. COYS.
Great report Phil but don’t agree with your assessment of Wenger’s transfer negotiation skills. He is far better than you want to credit him for and has a long history of finding very affordable players and turning them into stars who he then sells on for 500% profit or more.
Is Bale better than wilshere,Walcott,or even Giroud? The big difference is that he’s playing on a team that is succeeding well this season and can score goals that win key games. That said, he is a talent but not on the same level as Ronaldo,Aguero or even Suarez imo. He is however more than a one-trick pony. He is versatile and very skilled at attacking, but is less a defender and maybe less a leader. i still wouldn’t mind seeing him play with the Arsenal.
Another goonie blog talking about the mighty spurs. Another goon in denial. Trying to compare wilshire and bale is laughable. Wilshire has scored how many goals in his injury ridden blink-of-an-eye ‘career’?…1. 1 in 54 appearances. Bale has scored 34 for Spurs in 135 games. I’ll do the goal to game ratio for you as you choose to ignore empirical data. Bale scores a goal every 3.9 games. Wilshire scores a goal every, come on you can do it, yup, 54 divided by 1. Yeah, I think even you managed that sum. Try dealing in facts rather than bullsh!t. Wilshire is undoubtably talented but he’s not come anywhere near emulating what Bale has done. I look forward to the goonies putting forward their usual deluded and unsubstantiated arguements but I will only accept facts, I will not accept blinkered foolish bias so, let’s be honest and end this now, you goonies don’t have anything. Just admit it and you’ll find some inner peace amidst the turmoil that is ruining your club, at least be honest with yourselves because you’re fooling nobody, you could do with the release… And relax.
The only mighty Spurs are in San Antonio. And nothing is “ruining” our club, whereas your club is still reckoning with the financial havoc that always comes when you hire Harry Redknapp as your manager.
Ah yes the financial havoc. Do go on, because quite honestly not a single spurs fan has a clue what you’re on about
Have to laugh at all these gooners.
Wilshere better than bale?????
Bahahahahahhahahah
Right now, bale walks into the world XI
Playing left midfield.
He is simply outstanding in that position.
Any moron knows that.
Now onto little jack.
I like him. A real terrier and tidy midfielder.
But on a world level?
Hell no!!!!! How many reams of central midfielders would be ahead of him.
Gooners need a reality check.
Bale would not walk into the World XI. Dive into it, maybe. Bale will NEVER be as good as Wilshere is RIGHT NOW. And a Spud offering a Gooner a reality check is like Gascoigne being your AA sponsor.
“Gareth Bale is an incredible talent. I watched Barcelona play this week and I thought how nicely he would fit into that team.” -Martin Keown in today’s Mail
Or even Tony Donkey
@zico59 ur argument makes absolutely no sense Bale has been getting plaudits for a number of years now and as each year passes so does his valuation. Which suggests that the worlds top clubs appreciation of him grows each year. Wiltshire is a good player but his name is not being banded around like Bales,again appreciation. As for Wiltshire staying loyal to arsenal when the time comes , hmmm it hasn’t stopped a serious number of top players leaving, and that’s while their playing champions league.. Oh one 1 more thing monkey king.. Seriously how old are you?
You’re not saying that Bale is better than Wilshire?!?!?! WTF are u smoking?! The stats comparison to Walcott is a tired argument.. are u seriously saying that Theo is anywhere near as good as Bale!? Honestly listen to yourself.. stats don’t tell the full story, where are the stats on ‘purposeful’ runs, dribbles the full length of the pitch taking on 10 men- with an end product, accurate crossing, entertainment value, power, athleticism, winning games single handedly, energy, leaving players for dead, spectacular efforts, spectacular goals. He is the full package, you can’t do the fella an injustice by bloody comparing stats to Theo. theo is a good player, Bale is excellent…. with the potential to be great. Granted he is not at a great team in my beloved Spurs but he is at a very good team.. He will leave I know & when he does I will salute him as probably the best player I have personally seen in my 31 years of life to ever don the lillywhite shirt (on a par with Gazza), it’s unfair to say he is nothing until he has won something because we all kno that whatever club in the world he ends up playing for he will make a huge impact regardless, that for me is the thing that seoerates him from any other player in the league… could you honestly say that with as much certainty about ANY other player in the division Rooney included. NO. He is the most valuable player because he is the best (alround) player… by a million miles
The stats PROVE Walcott is better than Bale.
You wouldn’t know a good player if he kicked you in your vagina.
Is that why every newspaper in Europe carries a story of Bale and his exploits whereas neither Walcott or Wilshire are mentioned to any degree.
At the moment Bale is playing at a higher level than either Walcott or Wilshire have achieved. Wenger has also stated that Bale has the
ability to match that of Ronaldo, why is it not possible to enjoy the qualities of the man for his football and forget the inane remarks that you seem to specialise in.
Good, thoughtful article. Even attracted some sensible comments.
As a Spurs fan I think that you under rate Wenger’s ability to get a good price when he is selling (most of the time lately). However he seems to have lost his touch somewhat as a buyer.
Also give JW his due, he is that rare commodity nowadays – Loyal, so when he goes you know the game is up.
At the end of the day the thrust of your piece is spot on; a player is only worth what someone wants to pay for him. Wenger and Levy manage to squeeze every penny when they sell, but there has to be a sucker/buyer first.
@stonney if you are saying looking to compare goal stats den do compare walcots goals to bales. tho wilshere has scored just 1 goal in 54games, compared to bales 34goals in 135games. Now compare walcot 62goals with bales 34goals you morron.
ahh but how many games has bale played at left back,theo is now a forward were as bale is a left winger come number 10.Fact is it kills you to see bale play for spurs, you hate his very name on tv,radio,bill boads,you hate the hype the very sight of him.There is know player at le arse I hate,In fact i love some of them (gervinhio.ramsey.big murder)there used to be but there all long gone and the last one is about to pick of the prem in a few weeks for utd.boom #itkillsyou 🙂
Dan. The article compares Wilshire and Bale so I responded in kind. I see that this was too difficult for you to decipher so I thought I’d explain. Your command of the English language, both read and written, is really rather child like at best. A very poor effort in fact. Have another go and try sticking to the point.
Dear stonney, your stupidity shone through, in high definition colors, when you compared wilshere’s goal stat with that of bale. What were you thinking? A deep lying mid fielder with a winger/striker? Walcott, for a fact, is a better comparism, regardless of who the article mentioned. Bale is overrated! End of!
Stoney, I too feel for Nedu. Nedu you obviously can’t grip the fact that Stoney is answering the article that was written. Perhaps you should stick to reading Peter and Jane books!
walcock looked lost on tuesday in the champions lg were as bale has a champions lg hat trick vrs the euro champions as a left winger.Uncle mike(dont like guys that call themselfs uncle on the internet, very fishy) kevin nolans stats show him to be a far better player the jack the women beater!!!!!!!!This is a new low,even for you.
Wilshere? wilshere! wilsher!!!! hahahaha he is poo i would rather have jenas than that foool he diesnt now how to parse or anythink awful plauer, bale cna skill 10 players and score and is higher rated on fifa 13 so you know nothing and he is faster than poopoo wilshere hahahaahaha
I think fans of any club would be embarrassed by some of the comments here, but this one manages to trump pretty much every other comment I’ve ever seen for its sheer awfulness and display of what can surely be only a single digit IQ.
Other idiots: please get off the Internet now. You’ve had your turn and this guy has beaten you fair and square. Leave it to the grown-ups from now on.
Bale will walk into world XI team? Even with a dive, he can’t make it! Ribery, goetze, ronaldo, iniesta, silva, hazard to mention a few.
Nedu.
If you’re going to accuse me of being stupid please get my name correct and brush up on your spelling and grammar. Calling someone stupid and then making such infantile mistakes really does undermine any pertinence you think you express. Wishire isn’t a defensive midfielder, he’s an attacking midfielder, he should score goals. He doesn’t. Bale also scores a lot of goals from free kicks. Wilshire is perfectly entitlied to take free kicks, but he doesnt. Why? Because he isn’t good enough. I’m interested to know, by what criteria should one compare footballers then? Shoe size? Number of followers on Facebook? Notches on their mother’s bedpost? You tell me genius.
Walcott had played just 6 games as a striker for arsenal. All in january, then on tuesday. Bale has been a left winger since 2008
I watched the bayern munich midfield humiliate their arsenal counterparts.
They walked to a 3-1 victory in 2nd gear.
The numptys who are arguing about how great wilshere is, should ask afew bayern fans!
Wishere has the potential to be great
But at the moment he is clearly
nowhere near it, as kroos, muller, shweinsteiger and co will prove. Again.
A 7-1 on agg result is on the cards
ropes
This article actually surprised me, didn’t think that if would be so impartial so well done.
Firstly I think Tony Cascarino is a cretin of the highest order, wasn’t long ago I heard this mug absolutely ripping into AVB on Talksport saying that he speaks gibberish and is a fraud, well if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s wrong and is well and truly eating his words now then I have to ask the question…what in the name of Christ has Tony Cascarino won as a footballer? Who the hell is he to criticise anyone in the game when he was so bloody rubbish at the game himself, Who the hell is Tony Cascarino?! Frigging unbelievable stuff! But as a football pundit every dog has it’s day and if you throw enough s**t the trees, some of it will stick.
Now as a Spurs fan IMO Bale IS one of the best players in the Premiership, one of alongside Mata, Suarez and Van Persie. ‘One of’ meaning that these players are playing on the same level at the moment and and playing at that higher level than anyone else which I think is fair. You can make a case for and against him in regards to him being the best player in the league, ultimately who cares? Really can we not appreciate that a British player is even being considered in the same class as the other players and not try to put him down at every opportunity just because you don’t like him? Not particually talking about the OP but people tend to knock the ‘Bale hype’ on the head by bringing up ridiculous stats to try and justify their point….only 1 assist this season yawn…comparing his stats to Walcott’s stats yawn, if any of these people had a clue about football they’d realise that the game is much more than being about stats and just by purely watching him you’d appreciate what he brings to the game and the kind of level he’s playing at.
Is he worth £50m? What a player is worth and how much a buying club is willing to pay are two different things, its an incredibly subjective opinion which can run and run and you’ll get no definitive answer. Can Spurs get £50m for him? Well As you probably know this totally depends on the buying club and the circumstances that dictate the transfer. If rumours are to be believed then Real Madrid are interested then you have to say that they’re going to have to part with this valuation in order to secure his services, what with Bale having 4 years to run on his contract, with him not even hitting his peak yet and of course the most important factor is Daniel Levy who will be looking to get the highest price out of him. If he can get £30m for Berbatov and £10m for Crouch then I’m sure he’s going to be looking at something quite ridiculous for Bale and rightly so.
And lets leave out the Wilshere vs Bale comparison as it’s beyond embarassing, they’re both different players who have different roles on the pitch so to ask the question who’s better is like comparing apples and pears, very cringe worthy.
Lets have a look at a few facts regarding Tony Cascarino . Describing him as a “cretin” and a “mug” is one thing . But to question his footballing achieviements is unfair and if one wishes to criticise any player a knowledge of his career is the least one can expect. Cascarino played in the Euro 88 finals , Italia 90, and USA94 for the RoI . Team mates during his international career included : Liam Brady,Frank Stapleton,Dave O Leary,Chris Hughton, Andy Townsend and Paul McGrath , just to mention a few. At club level he and Teddy Sherringham were legendary when Millwall were in the old first division in the late 80s..He subsequently played for Villa,Celtic,Chelsea,and then played in France for Marsailles where he scored 61 goals in 109 appearances. He went on to play for Nancy and finished his international career in ’99 against Turkey . During his long career he played with and against the worlds best . People may not like what he has to say , more did’nt like him as a player . But what ever one thinks he did what he did. Opinions ? . I have an opinion on Gareth Bale but I base it on what I see not on perception or wishful thinking.