Unwrapping The Gareth Bale Enigma – Will He Stay Or Will He Go?

With Tottenham’s Gareth Bale constantly linked with a move away from White Hart Lane this summer, writer Rayyan Dabbous looks at whether the attacker should give the north Londoners another year to repay the faith they’ve shown in him.

There have been a lot of rumours in the transfer market this summer when it came to Gareth Bale. This is quite the age-old question: Loyalty or Ambition? Will he remain faithful to the club that made him what he is today? Or will he pursue his dreams and go after silverware?

For Bale, all these rumours can only be flattering. He is desperately needed: whether by his own club or an extravagant suitor. However, all these rumours and stories about his possible departure can only have an adverse affect on the fans. Anxiety can be seen in Tottenham Hotspur fans who all hope their hero will make the right decision and stay at White Hart Lane. Desire can be seen in Real Madrid fans who desperately want him to make a switch to the Bernabeu.

Spurs fans can look back at the past and see how Gareth Bale became the great footballer he is today. Who knew when he was just a leggy young left-back at Southampton, that he was to become one of the world’s hottest properties?

Gareth Bale signed with Tottenham Hotspur in May 2007. He was a 17 year old Welsh footballer who was nothing more than a promising prospect. In his first years at White Hart Lane, he struggled to prove himself worthy of a starting place in Spurs’ lineup: falling out of favor under Harry Redknapp with Benoît Assou-Ekotto taking charge of the left back position.

It was only in the 2010/2011 season that the Welsh international made his first team breakthrough. Bale was a player reborn that season and his offensive taste and his ruthless eye for a goal led him to move forward to left wing position. Since then, the former Southampton starlet has grown into one of the world’s best: scoring 26 goals last season to earn himself the PFA Player of the Year Award.

Tottenham fans have seen Bale mature and grow over the past six years, but those very fans are now worried they might lose their star. The 24-year-old has been very quiet on his future and has refused to come out and commit his future to the club. Real Madrid and Manchester United have been linked with world record bids in recent weeks but the club seem intent on snubbing such bids and are determined to hang on to the attacker.

However, Tottenham fans will have been heartened by the recent comments of boss Andre Villas-Boas, who claims the player is not for sale and they have opened talks over a new contract.  So despite the speculation, it looks like he will stay with Spurs and repay the faith the club showed in him as a youngster, and he’ll try to blast them back into the Champions League next season. Then we’ll probably have to go through all of this again in 12 months time…

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