Gareth Bale has just been bought for 85.3 million Euros. It seems to be a bit much to control. Photo by Matthew Baquero
85.3 million euros (or 115,572,970 dollars). That is how much Real Madrid Fc has recently paid Tottenham Hotspur for the bright new talent Gareth Bale. This deal broke Madrid’s former record by buying Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2008. But the question is, is one player truly worth all that money?
High school boys’ soccer Coach Tony Kowalewski said, “On the surface, that is far too much money for any player, but a team like Real Madrid is not only looking to put an outstanding group of players on the pitch day in and day out, but also looking to sustain and improve their worldwide ‘market share.’”
This presents another question, is a team so legendary for their love of soccer paying this great sum for their own financial profit, and how does that affect the club? Suburban varsity midfielder Dominic Badovinac said, “They can afford better practicing facilities and can increase salaries which can get the squad better players.”
Even though the coach at Real Madrid does not have a say in the players that the club buys, Kowalewski said he would like to have a squad of consistent players and not just one pronounced superstar. He also said, “Of course, if I were coaching Real Madrid or Man U, I could have my cake and eat it too. I would not complain about that.”
Real Madrid has notably been known to be a money powerhouse as well as a powerhouse on the field; however, the Spanish giants may have just stepped to another level. After having five players chosen for the 2013 starting 11, which promotes the 11 best players in the world for every position, Madrid this year have continued to buy more talent to add to their star studded roster. In this roster is arguably the best player on the planet, Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the Ballon’ D’or in 2008 naming him the best player in the world, and has fallen in second ever since.
But with this alignment of stars and the ability to replace any player with any other and still be a winning machine, how does this affect the player? Kowalewski said, “I would expect the player to feel extremely high expectations and a higher level of pressure to perform above and beyond any other player on the team. This could have a positive or negative impact on the player and the team depending upon the player.”
Madrid seems to have clenched the money bag, but to real fans the test is el clasico, where their new buys and alumni legends need to make the impact.