Tottenham agree fee on Bale

[Chaplain]

Bale to have medical at Tottenham

Southampton full-back Gareth Bale will have a medical at Tottenham on Wednesday after the two clubs agreed a fee, reports BBC Radio Wales.
Saints boss George Burley earlier denied reports a fee had been agreed between the two clubs.
But sources close to the 17-year-old expect him to sign within days.
Spurs had a bid of about £10m accepted by Saints in January, but Welsh international Bale rejected the chance to move to White Hart Lane.
The teenage left-back has only one year left on his contract and was also linked with moves to Arsenal and Manchester United.



But following Southampton's failure to gain promotion this season the prospect of first-team football in the Premiership at Tottenham looks to have been enough to change his mind.
Bale made his debut as a 16-year-old last year for Saints - becoming the second youngest to ever play for the club - and this season he has become a regular for Southampton and Wales.
He became the youngest Welsh international when he played against Trinidad & Tobago in May last year - setting up a late winner.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/6683989.stm

Seemingly a done deal.

I took BBC as I trust them the most but it's being reported all over the place.

[Boovy]

Sky Sports are claiming Southampton have denied this :o

[Chaplain]

Yup, it went from confirmed to Southampton denying. Levy or someone must've gotten angry, but the BBC site has the medical thing and it's still up, so I'm going to assume that it's more or less true.

[ada]

He could do worse. Like joining Wrexham.

[Defoe8]

£10 million is far 2 much, for a LB that has no Premiership experience, i'd expect to pay that much for Wayne Bridge but not for this kid!!

Hope we dnt sign him, unless we can get the price down from £10 mill!!

[G]

yeah we dont want him either if hes costing that much.

[Foley87]

his career highlights

signs for saints

scores a freekick for wales

signs for spuds

:laugh

[uruklown]

He'll Be Great, I Dunno About The 10 Mill Though, 2 Much.

[Kirstie THFC]

For £10million I think he needs to prove alot.

Foley, he's joining a club that will be playing UEFA cup football next season, he'll play in those games too.

[EarZ]

cant make up my mind about this. im delighted we got him as he looks a great prospect but im not too chuffed about the price tag.

[Chaplain]

We have cash to spend, we have an LB problem, Bale is highly rated. Taadaa. This is how United feel when they paid 18 million for Carrick. :D

[uruklown]

i hope he'll be great 4 us

[Kingdom]

Bale is expected to sign sometime in the next 24 hours. The deal is reported to be £5m to £6m upfront rising to £10m based on many different things.

[mrgrumble]

I havent even seen this guy play, cant he cut it in the premiership? is he better than Lee and Gardner?

[Chaplain]

He's better then Gardner if he's a starter for a championship side at 17....and he definitely has the potential to be much, much better than both of them. He's got a vicious left foot and has a good free kick, but defense-wise I really don't know all that much about.

[Chaplain]

Its official, we've signed bale. From site.

We are delighted to announce the signing of Wales international full-back Gareth Bale from Southampton.
The Cardiff-born defender, who turns 18 in July, made his debut against Millwall towards the end of the 2005-06 campaign. He went on to be capped at Under-21 level before becoming the youngest ever Wales international when he came off the bench against Trinidad and Tobago last summer.

His first start came at White Hart Lane in September 2006 when Brazil provided the opposition and a first international goal quickly followed against Slovakia in a European Championship qualifier – making him the country’s youngest goalscorer. The left back currently has six caps and two goals to his name.

Gareth made 45 appearances for Southampton, scoring five goals.

"I am just excited to be coming to a big club, a massive club like Tottenham," reacted Gareth on joining. "I want to play in the Premiership, Tottenham is a club pushing forward and I want to be part of its future.

Sporting Director Damien Comolli added: "We have been following Gareth for a long time now and have been very tenacious, so we are absolutely delighted to get him here. He is a player of great quality and, as we always say, our aim in each window is to improve the quality of the squad.

"Gareth has great physical attributes, he is tall, good in the air and has a fantastic left foot. He is very good on set pieces, he is clever on the ball and his passing selection is excellent.

"He has the ideal combination to become a top, top player and he is only 17."
Bale in a spurs shirt:

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/images/articles/5092-6.jpg


We've also got him slightly "cheaper" than I first thought we did:

Southampton said Spurs will make an immediate payment of £5 million, with further additional payments that could see the transfer fee rise to £10m.

[Defoe8]

Welcome to Spurs young lad!! :dk

£5 million - that's more like it, good signing, he should solve our LB problem :clap

[uruklown]

I'm Already Loving This Kid. Keep It Up Martin Jol.

[W_Green]

Just hope it wont be again the story of "Our defence is too young and inexperienced and this is why we concede so much".

[uruklown]

it won't

[nffcsharp]

Whats he like defensivly?

[uruklown]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/6684865.stm

[Kirstie THFC]

I'm quite happy about how much we actually got him for.

Bye to Assou-Ekotto?

[Chaplain]

Assou-Ekotto will be backup, alternatively he will be a starter until the African Cup and then Bale will be given his chance.

I highly doubt that though and I think Bale will be given a chance from start.

I think we'll also sell Stalteri and use Lee as a versatile fullback to fill in the spots if Chimbonda is injured

[Kirstie THFC]

How good is Gareth Bale?
By John May

Tottenham have landed one of English football's hottest properties, forking out a package worth up to £10m for Southampton defender Gareth Bale.

That is a lot of money to pay for a 17-year-old defender who has never played in the Premiership.

But along with West Brom's Jason Koumas, Bale is arguably the best player outside the top flight.

Cynics might say that as Spurs see themselves as Arsenal's equals, when the Gunners paid big money for a Southampton teenager, Tottenham felt they had to do the same.

In the past couple of years Saints fans have seen the thick end of £25m worth of teenage talent head up the M3 to see if the streets of London really are paved with gold.

But while Theo Walcott is yet to nail down a regular place at the Emirates, Bale is an off-the-shelf product, ready-assembled for instant first-team use.


WHAT ARE SPURS GETTING FOR THEIR MONEY?

If Bale were a pair of shoes, he would be a pair of hand-tooled, Lobb brogues.

He is a quality product, that should last a long time if given the right care and attention.

It may be stating the obvious, but as a left-back, Bale is left-footed. In fact he has a magician's wand of a left-peg, with which he is able to conjure up magic from free-kicks.

Having become Saints second-youngest debutant (behind Walcott) when he made his bow against Millwall at the end of last season Bale first came to national attention with his first goal for Saints this season, a stunning free-kick in their opening game against Derby.

It was a feat he repeated several times this season, even inviting comparison with David Beckham's dead-ball skills.

But his offensive attributes are not just about dead balls. He is a brilliant dribbler, able to shed a defender with a drop of a shoulder or a stepover, and importantly, there is always an end-product in terms of a telling cross.

Such are his attacking qualities that he could easily play as a left-sided midfielder.

Bale is an excellent defender at Championship level. Being quick, he can show attackers the outside and there are few, if any, at that level who would skin him.

He is very sharp in the tackle, solid in the air, and for a 17-year-old, he has a very mature head on his shoulders.

All in all, he looks a complete player.


BUT...

He is still only 17, and is still learning his trade.

The Championship is a good school to do that, the Premiership is a much tougher one, full of nasty bullies.

Bale has been well-taught and coached by Saints staff, and generally his positional play is pretty sound.

But there were times this season when he was caught out of position, and he will be up against a far more cunning and canny animal in the Premiership.

His right foot is something of a swinger, and if street-wise Premiership defenders funnel him inside, he is less effective on his starboard side.


SO IS HE WORTH IT?

As a long-term investment, he will be. A package worth £10m for a 17-year-old defender is a gamble, but if Spurs get 10 years out of him, it will be a snip.

But Saints have also done well out of the deal. The Championship club are about to lose their Premier League parachute payments, and Bale only had one more year left on his contract, so they had to cash in.

Under those circumstances, you might have expected Spurs to be able to dictate terms, but it appears Saints have played hardball.

And Spurs know all about getting their fingers burned when buying defenders from Saints.

Tottenham fans will no doubt remember the £8m paid for Dean Richards - from whom Spurs only got three injury-ravaged seasons.

bbc.co.uk

[Sinate NZ]

"Cynics might say that as Spurs see themselves as Arsenal's equals, when the Gunners paid big money for a Southampton teenager, Tottenham felt they had to do the same. "

:laugh

[Kirstie THFC]

Shame we didnt pay big money really because then that quote might be worth posting.

Oh well, always a next time.

[Chaplain]

Walcott ultimately signed for Arsenal on 20 January 2006 for an initial fee of £5m, rising to a possible £12m based on appearances for club and country, making him the most expensive 16-year-old in the history of British football.

Bale completed his move to Tottenham Hotspur on 25 May 2007, arranging a four-year deal, with Tottenham making an immediate payment of £5 million, with further additional payments that could see Bale's transfer go up to £10m.

Honestly don't see much difference there :p

[Kirstie THFC]

Bale will actually be playing football unlike Walcott ;)

Thats the difference.

[Sinate NZ]

Shame we didnt pay big money really because then that quote might be worth posting.

Oh well, always a next time.

As you can see from Chaplains post its a 2 Mill difference:handbags


Bale will actually be playing football unlike Walcott ;)

Thats the difference.
.

You think Walcott is gonna be a bench warmer and not get game time? Sure he didnt play that much this season but it was a big year for him with Engand world cup then playing in the premiership. Being injured for a big chunk of season also is a big factor as to why he didnt play as much. His big chance this season wouldve been when RvP and Henry were out injured, but unfortunatley for Walcott he was injured in the same period as our top 2 strikers.

TBH id rather trust Wengers way of easing a player into 1st team action over Jols supoesedley shove him in at LB over Ekkoto and Lee without no experience at the highest level (Wales games dont count). Real big step up for Bale now and would be interesting to see how he copes defensively. I have no qualms about his offence, but judging by what people are saying is that he isnt the best defender. Guess he would be a similar version to Shorey from Reading.
Perhaps he could be a LB-cum-LW? Since Malbranque doesnt have a left foot and Bale is a left footer if ever i had seen one.

[Kirstie THFC]

He didnt even ******* deserve to go to the world cup ... such a big year for him that the **** didnt even play too.

[Sinate NZ]

He didnt even ******* deserve to go to the world cup ... such a big year for him that the **** didnt even play too.

Just because he didnt play in world cup doesnt make it a small year for him. Its alot for a 16/17 year old to get round his head that he's out with the big boys now and knowing that the British media are ready to tear him to peices for being to over priced.

[Defoe8]

Shame we didnt pay big money really because then that quote might be worth posting.

Oh well, always a next time.

Cynics can **** off, what the **** do they know - nothing!!

[Chaplain]

:laugh